Sergej Jensen
Untitled, 2005
Artist
Sergej Jensen
Title
Untitled
Year of creation
2005
Technique and dimensions
tempera and fabric paint on jute, 165 x 125 cm
Year of acquisition
2006
Acquisition of the foundation
With his formal language, which at first glance appears to be very abstract, and his reduced painting, which does not always have to be actually painted, Sergej Jensen leads to associations that go in many directions by encouraging the viewer to complete forms according to their own imagination. Objects are indicated by negative forms, landscapes can be read from the traces of processing, line structures can be reminiscent of political symbols, but the audience remains free in their associations.
Jensen's minimalist pictures usually appear melancholically empty; simplified and delicate shapes made of various materials, mostly textiles, float on them. The canvases can also be completely covered with material, so he turned money bags purchased on eBay into wall pieces in which the different materials and textile qualities contrast with and against each other and the color variations complement each other to form a geometric pattern.
His works are reminiscent of housework and are characterized by their process. Traditional painting is critically questioned, even if Jensen's paintings are also characterized by this. But each work is created with minimal effort, banal materials can be used and the work process is usually stopped early on, so that the large empty spaces in his pictures are almost reminiscent of constructivism. The color is also reduced, gouache is mixed with bleach and is used, if at all, only sparingly and without much gestural expression. This means that canvas itself becomes a medium of expression; it is not covered up as usual, but emerges with its own effect.