The Shape of Things to Come

Art is a singular vision set out by the individual who produces it. A very personal take on the state of our society, religion and the human condition. Whether dystopian, utopian or anything in between it has to hold a strong position in the subject matter it communicates, it has to comment the current state and set out a possible direction for the future.

The title of the exhibition, The Shape of Things to Come, references the famous novel by H.G. Wells from 1933, in which he delivers a chilling premonition of the coming of the Second World War and the world’s subsequent demise and its utopian second coming. The four artists in the exhibition, Kenneth Alme, Ruth Campau, Amalie Jakobsen and Jay Gard, each presents their own aesthetic language and vision for art’s resolve. Each their artistic direction takes shape from the commitment to the idea and concept they seek to communicate.

Their formulated artistic language is not only unique to each of them, but it also represents their individual idea and vision for and of the world. Whether working in acryllics and plastics, metal or wood or on plain canvasses though their materials may differ, what they do share is a common urge to deliver a free expression through a precise and clear language.

One which is strongly condensed to only the strictest possible movements and shapes needed to deliver as exactly as possible the communication wanted. This in itself presents a path, a simplicity in expression and perhaps also a state of being.

Kenneth Alme was born in 1981 in Tønsberg, Norway. He lives and works in Oslo, where he graduated from the National Art Academy in 2010. His work has been shown in exhibitions at, among others, Noplace in Oslo (NO); Bräuning Contemporary in Hamburg (DE); Rod Barton in London (UK) and Labor/Opelvillenin Rüsselsheim (DE).

Ruth Campau was born in 1955 in Denmark. She lives and works in Copenhagen. Her work has been exhibited widely both in Denmark and internationally, including exhibitions at ISCP, New York (US), KUNSTEN Museum of Modern Art, Aalborg; Ostrale, Dresden (DE), Overgaden, Institute of Contemporary Art (DK).

Amalie Jakobsen was born in 1989 in Denmark. She lives and works in Berlin. She graduated from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, in Copenhagen and Goldsmiths University of London in 2014. Her works have been exhibited at Efrain Lopez Gallery, Chicogo (US),TwilSharp Gallery in Johannesburg (ZA), Feral, Mexico City, (MX).

Jay Gard was born in 1984 in Germany. He lives and works in Berlin. He studied at the Hochschule für Grafik und Buch Art in Leipzig and Hochschule für Kunst und Design Burg Giebichenstein in Halle. He has exhibited at Half Gallery, New York (US), Sexauer Gallery, Berlin (DE), Galerie Oel-Früh Cabinet, Hamburg (DE).

Kilde: Gether Contemporary