BJERGTAGET by Louis André Jørgensen

BJERGTAGET

Solo Show

by Louis André Jørgensen

June 1 - June 17 , 2023

Bladr is happy to anounce the exhibition “BJERGTAGET” by Louis André Jørgensen, opening Thursday 1st of June 17-20h.

In the Western view of nature, the mineral kingdom is seen as the lowest: Stones neither bloom nor birth, and are thought to be the thing most alien to us. But as queer individuals, they have traveled far to become who they are today. In the exhibition Bjertaget, Louis André Jørgensen uses the stone as both material, motif and metaphor in an investigation of gender, geology, belonging and loss.

The exhibition consists of ink drawings on photo prints, a sculptural installation, a hand-sewn artist’s book titled Det er på tide at stenene blomstrer (It is time for the stones to bloom), and a performance, all of which revolve around the same narrative: The stones go from liquid to solid, they crystallize and transform through time, pressure and erosion. These developments resonate with the processes that trans people go through—which sometimes unfold with tectonic slowness, sometimes with volcanic force.

Jørgensen has visited and photographed some of the giant stones in Denmark, which are connected to folklore from pre-Christian times. The stones were believed to bring good luck and ward off misfortune if one respected their peace or sacrificed to them. Theologian Mads Lidegaard writes: ”Even in my childhood, the elders taught us that the stones were alive like everything else, that they grew in the ground. Many also believed that they had offspring: all the small stones that lay around the big ones.” In the Stone Age, stones were sacred, but today they are considered dead material that we can freely manipulate. At the same time, gender norms have shifted: There is a resonance between the declining status of the stones and the erasure of trans people, who used to have important roles in many pre-Christian societies. Through their work Jørgensen seeks intimacy with the bodies of the stones, and asks: What can we learn if we view the earth’s geological processes as fundamentally queer?

THANK YOU

The exhibition is supported by the Danish Arts Foundation and Rådet for Visuel Kunst.

Opening Thursday 1June , 5-8 pm
Exhibition June 1 - June 17, 2023

Opening hours:
Thursday and Friday 4 - 6 pm
Saturday 13 - 4 pm
and by appointment.

Bladr Griffenfeldsgade 27 Nørrebro

Images by Jenny Sundby