Nils Erik Gjerdevik møder Albert Mertz

Udstilling på Stalke Galleri31. januar - 7. marts 2003

Imagine Danish post-war art as atwo-lane highway. One lane is for-malistic and packed with cars dri-ving towards the specific qualitiesof the medium whether it is theflat surface of the canvas or thespatiality of the sculptural object.In the other lane the directions ofthe cars are more expressionisticas they head for the psychologicalnature of the modern individual.In this generalization and arthistorical piece of fiction furthertry to imagine a little car, maybeblue and red, driving in-betweenthe two lanes. Sometimes even in the ruff on the outside of thelanes. Crossing back and forth.The driver is Albert Mertz and inthe car with him is Norwegianborn Nils Erik Gjerdevik. Gjerdevik’smulti-colored is parked a little fur-

ther up the road. He likes to takethese rides with Mertz.Togetherthe two of them/they look at andtalk about the cars of Danish artthey pass on their way. SometimesGjerdevik thinks of it like being ina movie or flying in a satellite highabove the events, but still beingable to focus on even the mostnegligible details by using thehigh-mentality equipment thatcomes as standard in Mertz's car.The Mertz-mobile. And althoughMertz often breaks the traffic lawswith his reckless slalom driving,Gjerdevik sits confidently in his co-driver seat thinking that this is a fun way to avoid the heavytraffic in the two main lanes.

Scenario 1

MERTZ AND GJERDEVIK- ON THE ROAD AGAIN

Crossing back and forth

Within the Danish art world thereis a tendency to elevate conventio-nal rules and established schoolsto a virtue. Albert Mertz neveraccepted this mentality. Althoughhe paticipated in various activitiesof his time, worked at the literaryperiodicals Helhesten andHvedekorn, co-funded the artistsassociation Linien 2, exhibited as a member of another, the long-established Den Frie Udstilling,was professor at the RoyalAcademy in Copenhagen for manyyears and certainly acknowledgedthe influence of the country’s arthistory on his work he always deli-berately placed himself in theposition of the outsider who neverfollowed expectations. Whenabstract painting and the avant-

garde spirit of Fluxus were invogue among his contemporarieshe turned to an American inspiredcool conceptualism characterizedby his anti-coloristic use of redand blue. He substituted the for-malistic idealism of the canvasand the expressionistic pathos ofthe psyche with the powerfulopenness and subtle politics of thereflective mind.This allowed Mertzto maneuver freely and kept him ata healthy distance of the mainstre-am maelstrom as well as from anykind of aesthetic dogmatism orconformity.Throughout his careerhe worked in a variety of mediaand styles, not with the intention toproduce different kinds of works,but to initiate a nuanced andextensive discussion of art as a

privileged way of thinking andbeing. Mertz’ view was that of theengaged outsider enriching thediscussion by humorous gestures,generous experiments, luminousinsights, innovative ideas and coolinvestigations. In total a compre-hensive approach whereby heexpanded the field of Danish art.

Nils Erik Gjerdevik also thinks ofhimself as somewhat of an outlawwithin the context of Danish art.Contrary to many of his contem-poraries he did not attend theRoyal Academy in Copenhagen.In the mid 80s he traveled to the

then communist Prague, spent ayear there, then in the late 80smoved to Düsseldorf and later onto Berlin, which had just experien-

somewhat of an outlaw

ced the fall of the wall.This bio-graphical and professional courseof events made it only natural forGjerdevik to identify with and befascinated by Mertz’ positiondespite the obvious differencesbetween their art.To emphasizethis relationship the largest part ofthe works, dating from the 1970sand 1980s, which Gjerdevik hasselected for this installation atStalke Gallery are not “typical” ofMertz, meaning that not all ofthem are red and blue. Only a fewof the works have been shown inpublic before, but years backGjerdevik saw some of the smallalmost clumsily made canvas

works and the graphic and double-colored paper works, which trickilycomments on Mertz’ preoccupa-tion with red and blue and thecoloristic interest of modern pain-ting. He found them so peculiar,that when Lone Mertz, Mertz’ wifeand the administrator of his estate,showed him a whole bunch ofthem Gjerdevik immediately knewthat these works were going toform the core of his installation.Thus the installation with its frag-mented form is conceived asbeing congenial with Mertz’ ownstrategy of focusing on the perip-hery and emphasizing the detail tomake essential remarks.

focusing on the periphery

the atmosphere in the living room is lively

For real. On the walls of Gjerdevik'sliving room hangs what seems likehundreds of art works. Photos nextto paintings next to drawings nextto more paintings are forming amesmerizing tapestry. Only insmall spots are the walls themsel-ves visible. It is a view that wouldprobably knock a modernistmuseum curator unconscious ifnot make him run away screamingabout lack of discipline and disre-spect of the works. Gjerdevik doesnot run away, nor does he scream.He smiles, because he lives there.Contrary to the politics of mostmuseums and galleries Gjerdevikregards hanging as a kind of com-position in its own right. But not ina formalistic sense, he adds.Thecomposition of a hanging is to be

made without unnecessary com-plications and without trying tomake a specific point out of it. Inhis living room he has hung them,causally and with respect for theworks' integrity, of course, but alsowith a great deal of personal intui-tion and experimentation. If a newwork enters the collection hemight rearrange. Gjerdevik alsoquotes Mertz for saying that artworks die if no one looks at themand that they grow when hangingin spaces and places where peo-ple live their everyday lives. Doesthat make him a kind of a rescuerin the field of art? Surely theatmosphere in the living room islively.

Scenario 2

a mesmerizing tapestry

An important point of departure forGjerdevik’s installation of Mertz’works is the idea of the autono-mous yet mobile work that can beexhibited in different ways and pla-ced in different contexts withoutlosing its integrity.Thus his threecircular wall paintings do not takeon the character of independentworks nor do they intend to stagean enclosed totality. Rather theyare formal considerations of howto expose a work such as Mertz’.With their multi-colored patternsthey create a turbulent backgroundthat disrupts the peaceful neutrali-ty of the white wall. Gjerdevikbalances their visual effect andinstead of grapping all the atten-tion they activate a focus on Mertz’works as visual refuges. Mertz’

works become places for the eyeto relax and allow the mind to concentrate in a meditative ZenBuddhist sense, which is a spiritualway of thinking that Mertz himselfpracticed in the later part of hislife. Furthermore Gjerdevik’s juxta-position of Mertz’ subtle conceptu-al statements with his own handmade geometric abstractions dis-mantles the modernist ideology of the wall and accentuates thematerial quality of the works. Assuch the installation does not pre-tend to make a particular originalpoint. In a sympathetic spirit itsimply reframes and presents theconcrete yet philosophical andimaginative reality of Mertz’ art.

reframes and presents the concrete yet philosophical and imaginative reality of Mertz’ art

Back in the car. Mertz andGjerdevik have pulled out a mapfrom the glove compartment.Thismap is not what one would call aregular map. On the front cover itsays “1:1” yet the map itself iscompletely blank. It gives no direc-tions and shows no roads. It is justthis blank piece of paper. Foldedwhat seems to be an infinite num-ber of times. Nevertheless the exci-tement inside the car rises andwith the map covering the entirefront window Mertz and Gjerdevikset off again.“You are beginning to get nowhere,” a former user ofthe map has inscribed in one ofthe corners on the back.

Scenario 3

“You are beginning to get nowhere”

Gjerdevik’s installation connectsthe mobility of Mertz’ works asobjects with a strong sense ofvisual movement.The commonfigure of his three wall paintings isa repetition of a figure inspired byone of Mertz’ black and whitepaper works in which a circle isspinning within another bigger cir-cle.This figure creates a centripe-tal movement, which seems tospread the series of Mertz’ worksonto the walls.The series themsel-ves on the other hand create arhythmic almost syntactical move-ment.This movement is especially

obvious in the series of sevenred/blue canvases in which Mertzadvances with a dumb, combinato-ry logic. As a dynamic unity thesetwo visual movements anticipatesa virtual space that exceeds themeasurable sizes of the canvasesand physical surroundings of thegallery space.This space is mar-ked by Gjerdevik’s use of variousgrid like structures to fill out hisfigures as well as in his hanging ofMertz’ color sketches. By “encirc-ling” the grid and leaving the cen-ter of the inner circle unpaintedhis figures furthermore playfully

frame a kind of void just like Mertz’emblematic paper work Red/GreenFrame from 1987. For bothGjerdevik and Mertz the framing ofthis void creates a borderline ten-sion and a concentration of ener-gy. At the same time it characteri-zes a fundamental condition ofart: Art cannot depict the void, butonly frame it.Yet by this framingart can create an at the same timeconceptual and visual access tothe void, the fascinating inscrutabi-lity of being.

a borderline tension and a concentration of energy

signs of honesty

“Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”These precise and humorouswords, first spoken by SamuelBeckett, could be the title of astage play written by Mertz orGjerdevik. Or a stage play in whichMertz and Gjerdevik play the lea-ding characters.The two of themwould be on stage making worksof art or working artistically in anact of continuous experimentationwith a variety of colors and shapesand figures.The act certainly invol-ves running the risk of failure andembarrassing themselves in frontof the audience. But Mertz andGjerdevik do not mind the risk. Notat all. Actually it makes them laughat times. Furthermore they knowthat they have to face the risk anddeal with it to keep on working. As

such they have no interest in crea-ting the definitive work to end theirendeavors and evoke the applauseof the audience. Because if theirworks do not contain failures orcall them deliberate inaccuracies,open ends, signs of honesty, theysimply do not work anymore.Thepotential for spiritual reflection andaesthetic questioning disappears,for the two artists as well as for theviewers. Mertz and Gjerdevik donot want that to happen. No way.They fight for their right to fail.Again and again. On stage. In theirworks.

Jacob Lillemose, 2003

Scenario 4

this act certainly involves failure

Udstillingsperiode: 31. januar - 7. marts 2003Udstillingsted: Stalke GalleriTekst: Jacob LillemoseFoto: Sam JedigUdgiver: Stalke Galleri/Stalke Out of SpaceGrafisk design: Kristian JakobsenISBN: 87-90538-16-1Oplag: 500Special tak til:Lone Mertz, Nils Erik Gjerdevik, Jacob Lillemose, Kristian Jakobsen,alle Stalkes sponsorer samt Billedekunstrådet for økonomisk tilskud.

Nils Erik Gjerdevik møder Albert Mertz

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