Peter Land: The First Day at School
Galleri Nicolai Wallner, Copenhagen
May 5 - June 17 2006
Galleri Nicolai Wallner presents the exhibition "The First Day at School" with new drawings by the Danish artist PETER LAND.
Peter Land, internationally recognized for his important video works from the early the nineties, has recently worked with large scale sculptures, drawings and watercolors. Artistically Land takes as starting point the artist's body and mind, revealing a vulnerable reflexion of the self and alienation. In his works he centers on fundamental feeling of being different and alone, using humor to draw attention to these serious problems of the modern human existence.
The exhibition "The First Day at School" consists of a series of ten drawings with awkward and gawky children. The drawings present well-known figures; a boy with braces on his teeth, a child with snotty nose and a nervous squint-eyed girl. The works evoke memories of traumatic experiences from the schoolyard. Most people recognize the feeling of sometimes being insecure and maladjusted, but for these children it's a more or less a permanent state of mind.
Though on the surface grotesque or humorous, Peter Land's work contain a melancholic pondering over basic existence. Rather than functioning as caricatures the drawings invoke a great deal of empathy for the children.
"At the Lake" is a large-scale black and white watercolour, which presents a boy sitting at the shore of a small forest lake. At the other shore a strange human figure, with almost dissolved outlines, is situated. The two are spatially divided by the lake, but might also represent different stages in life. The work explores the forming of identity and consciousness in adolescence. The lake acts both as a reflection pool and a metaphor for the unknown.
Last year Peter Land was one of the five artists who were chosen to represent Denmark at the Venice Biennale. Land has exhibited widely at galleries and museums in Europe. He has had solo shows at various prestigious institutions including Fundación Miró (Barcelona), Musée d'art moderne et contemporain (Genève) and The National Gallery of Denmark (Copenhagen). In June he will present a new installation project at Art Unlimited, Art Basel.
GALLERI NICOLAI WALLNER
Ny Carlsberg Vej 68, 1760 Copenhagen
