Now, the Rest
Since 2012, Kasper Andreasen (b. 1979) has been working consistently on an archive of small painted panels, an index of artistic gestures that include drawing, painting, and writing. Traces of writing and letters are discernible in these works, but they have been rendered practically illegible, the writing becoming an image and the composition determined by colour. With the artist’s so-called point of view underlying it all.
Ultimately, the viewer decides to what extent he will relate to the work. To what extent will he enter into an alliance with the image on the basis of his recognition and association? To what extent does the artist’s handwriting still matter? In the end, the Panels are merely instruments of a process. And in that regard, the word “series” would hardly seem to apply; the artist is instead creating a history through repetition. All the while, he seems to be working in many directions at once – never surrendering to a stylized handwriting – while simultaneously demonstrating the impossibility of this fact. The history of something still in process cannot be mapped out, as that would, in fact, already suggest its “end”.
A List (Post-it), 2019, acrylic and ink on canvas, 65 x 95 cm
A more light-hearted tack seems to be taken in the work A List (Post-it), 2019, an enlarged to-do list that displays a fine sense of humour. Just imagine this oversized specimen on your refrigerator. The original object, the Post-it, has the function of reminding the writer to do something. In the painting, though, the only word we can make out is “milk”. Anything else the author might like to remind us – or himself – to do remains unreadable. He asks for our attention but in no way demands it. Again, the viewer determines his own commitment.
There is a form of carelessness that reoccurs in all of the artist’s works, but one that is completely instigated by the artist himself. Andreasen’s method resembles that of a free jazz one-man band. Not only does he play all the instruments himself, he is also the improviser and the fellow musician who imitates the improvisation. Also notable is the deliberate disregard of conventions – in Andreasen’s case with regard to painting. Some of his panels do not survive the process and end up destroyed, lost to (future) time.
Frank Maes
Originally published in the exhibition guide, Nu nog de rest, 2020, Emergent, Veurne, Belgium
Exhibition view, Nu nog de rest