JOHN KØRNER

(b. 1967, Aarhus, Denmark) belongs to and is an influential exponent of a younger generation of artists who have continued to explore the expressive possibilities and limitless diversity of contemporary painting, often underlining at the same time the various crossover between different media, such as painting and installation art.
Taken as a whole, Kørner’s present work, 1ste Udkast (1 st Draft), which was made specifically for Kbh Kunsthal, offers us one possible version of what a contemporary exhibition space would be and look like. The work consist of a miniaturized edifice onto which is attached an image of a frigate and the words “KØBENHAVNS KUNSTHAL”.
The model of the exhibition space rests on top of a mirror, and across from it is placed an amphitheatre and various stage sets. A certain playful and energetic usage of color and lighting a distinctive feature in Kørner’s practice accentuates this dramaturgical or theatrical effect, but the model as such can be readily understood a serious comment and challenge to the supposed architecture of modern exhibition spaces. This particular form of presentation, then, an exhibition space within anexhibition space, first of all compels us to ask allimportant questions about the current status of art; a topic which is emphasized by Kørner’s inclusion of a text written by the artist as a political statement in response to certain ‘idiosyncrasies’ in the discourse on the (re)presentation of art.
Furthermore, by investigating in depth the notion of the theatrical a theme which has surfaced ever more clearly in Kørner’s work in recent years the installation also wishes to point to what ought to be at stake in any work of art: the varying and interactive relationships between art and its viewers. Because of the employment of various mirror effects we inevitably see ourselves when viewing the work, which, in turn, effectually situates the onlooker at the “centre of the stage”, both inside and outside simultaneously. This mirroring and “mise en scène” is localizable on many different levels in 1ste Udkast, and it serves to underline a notion of art as not only a place for dialogical as well as collective viewing experiences, or as a critical residue in and of itself, but as a certain playful suspension of disbelief. In effect, we are at the same time beginning to understand how art, artist and viewers are alwaysalready “on show”.

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