A Kassen
De Brock is pleased to present its debut exhibition with Danish art collective A Kassen, opening on April 15th. Comprising Christian Bretton-Meyer, Morten Steen Hebsgaard, Søren Petersen and Tommy Petersen, the group met whilst studying at Copenhagen’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts in 2004 and have worked together ever since. Adopting a post-conceptual approach to their practice, as well as a collective decision-making process, the artists produce playful “performative installations and sculptures” that subtly satirise and call into question our unwavering acceptance of everyday objects, the art historical canon and institutional means of display. Inspired by the likes of fellow Danish collaborative duo Elmgreen & Dragset, A Kassen attempt to directly interact and intervene in their surrounding environment, considering site-specificity, the pluralities of perception and the very act of viewing itself.
The artists’ precedence of process over finished product is perhaps best exemplified in their Bronze Pour series of sculptures. An homage to the majesty of bronze as an artistic medium, both conceptually in recognition of its versatility and reusability - historically bronze busts and statues have been melted down to produce more pressing practical items during times of national need or recast in reflection of a poignant political or social shift - and out of respect for the materials innate natural properties and it’s enduring adherence to the laws of chemistry and physics. Here, A Kassen relinquish their collective control in the creative process, opting instead to pour molten bronze directly into water, allowing it to immediately solidify into inconsistent, indiscriminate and irregular forms. The removal of the artist’s hand from the physical making process produces pure, authentic abstractions, whilst the natural forces at play in the procedure imbue each form with an oddly organic appearance that belies their fundamental fortuity. These small, serendipitous structures are subsequently scanned, enlarged and cast as biomorphic bronze sculptures that recall Henry Moore’s reclining female figures or Jean Arp’s sleek, stylised silhouettes.
A Kassen have achieved critical acclaim both in their native Scandinavia, where they were awarded third prize in the prestigious Carnegie Art Award for Nordic contemporary art and have exhibited widely at international institutions and galleries. Their sensitive approach to spatial considerations has resulted in permanent sculptural commissions and installations in Copenhagen, Aarhus and Vejle (Denmark); Karlstad and Lund (Sweden); and outside the Danish Embassy in New Delhi, India.
The exhibition will showcase a selection of recent Bronze Pour sculptures, please email us for more information.
