Urbane fragments 2005Written by Knut Blomstrøm The smell of Jannik Abel’s new oil paintings reminds me of newly laid concrete in warm summer rain. This is a nice and special scent. The oil paint and varnish sit on the surface and binds the dust, the experience. The wide edges on the canvas underline the object-oriented character of the painting, not only as a portrayal of a personal idea, but also as a joint experience of city and art. The picture as an object, and not as a flat surface with illusionary space, becomes even more strengthened by objects in the surface: Photographs, newspaper clippings, metal pieces, rust - “the gold of the streets”. Jannik Abel’s family has been running an art gallery in Oslo since 1864. Not many people can call themselves a fifth generation citizen of the capitol. Maybe that is why Jannik Abel’s picture language and choice of motive is so naturally urban, without letting the term in all its tired rhetoric turn into manner and troublesome pedagogic. The core, not to mention the pulse, in her life and work, is the city. If it is not Oslo, it is San Francisco, where she lived for six years. Her career as a professional soccer player was put aside for her art (Jannik was ranked as the sixth best soccer player in the U.S.), but maybe her background as an athlete has strengthened her gutsy attitude towards art and the outside world. We are talking about attitude, about pride. She has participated in several street art projects, maybe “the most honest art form there is” because it seeks out its audience, and not the other way around, without wanting or looking for profit. |
“Where are we now?” is claiming that we do not know where we are, until we know where we come from, where we have been. The exhibition includes fragments of time and space. Old clippings, new expressions. Not unlike the urban life, with constant changes in familiar surroundings. The motives also include cranes that in addition to its beautiful shape and construction bear witness of process and change. The changes that happen on the surface, whether it is on Abel’s canvases or in the city landscape, does not shake the core – the coming of age and life in the city, family, memories. Her art is very much contemporary, with a relatively trendy look in a roughly cut aesthetic with few colours: brown, grey, white, black, and rust. As much as she creates, she also seems to be a caretaker. Memories are remembered, but without being conserved. The traditionally conservative wish to preserve and explain, and the radically self-explanatory about relevant art; the local (and Norwegian) meeting with the (American and) international, combined with some serious attitude – are some of several paradoxes we often meet with romantics. Jannik Abel can be characterized as one. At least at heart. |