ARTIST TALK: Jonas Georg Christensen & Peter Olsen

Meet the Danish artists Jonas Georg Christensen and Peter Olsen, who have worked together with the series Paintworks during the period 2009–18. This project is currently exhibited in Mellanrummet at Malmö Konsthall, and presented in the book Paintworks, published last year.

Paintworks shows their subtle paintings made, without permission, directly on different industrial and public buildings in Denmark. Their intervention in the facades of these late modern buildings is discreet and minimalist and underline the aesthetic qualities of the walls, and can be perceived as re-activating the surfaces of a building in public space.

Christensen and Olsen are interested in the tension between photography, painting, architecture and public space. They will talk about their series Paintworks, how it started and how they proceeded in practice, both when executing the paintings and photographing them. Each photographic work can be made up of up to 200 photographs.

Jonas Georg Christensen (b. 1983) studied fine arts at Funen- and Jutland Art Academy in Denmark. Lives and works in Copenhagen. Throughout his work, an interest in organisation – in all aspects of the word – is present. In his visually based praxis, questions related to systems, power, rights and norms are addressed.

Peter Olsen (b. 1982) studied fine arts at Jutland Art Academy in Denmark. Lives and works in Copenhagen. In his work the starting point is often a specific material, it’s materiality and a basic fascination relating to it. He works in the public space and the final works are the result of an action there.

Admission free. Duration one hour. The talk will be held in Danish, but questions can be presented in both Swedish and English. Admission free, number of seats limited to 50 due to Covid-19.

Image: Jonas Georg Christensen and Peter Olsen. Grey on Red (photographed on 22nd January). From the series Paintworks.