RESONANT HUES
By Amanda Færk, Hans Alf Gallery
ENG:
The new body of work by Anne Torpe (b. 1981, Denmark) ponders daily rituals and feelings of remembrance. Two new large-format group portraits are accompanied by a suite of intimate portraits of Women. Perhaps most recognisable by her soft, elegant colour palette and androgynous figures, this exhibition makes it clear that Torpe is not simply a painter of feminine beauty, but a master of structure and composition who constantly reconfigures her pictorial space to convey complex emotional states.
Painted from photographs, found in vintage magazines or photo albums, Torpe’s paintings seem at first sight to be solely about the behaviour of the Women and the effects of colour and light in the scenes from what looks like intensely private spheres. To spend time in front of the paintings by Torpe, however, is to see them change. Figures and interiors begin to move seamlessly in and out of each other, as each painting seems to be a study in seeing and remembering.
Torpe’s figurative Cubism, her fascination with how patterning can be used to hide things in a painting, to slow down our perception of them, is already evident, leaving no space flat or unattended.
And yet Torpe’s paintings of Women and their interiors are anything but quiet; they sing in a cacophony of colours, visible brushstrokes, dragged or dripping, and sudden soft shadows. We need synaesthetic metaphors to accommodate Torpe’s vision: a whole symphony of impure sounds resonates from her fierce sense of colour. Resonance is derived from the Latin ‘re,’ meaning again, and ‘sonare,’ referring to sound. Literally: to sound again. In the case of colours, resonance occurs when colours vibrate at a complementary frequency. They enrich each other, connect. They evoke feelings of remembrance.
In individual or group portraits, Torpe’s Women are shown in relaxed poses as they capture themselves and their doubles or soulmates. The Women pose in front of mirrors or rest, lounge, read, play guitar, contemplate, daydream. Often naked, and while nudity has historically been associated with vulnerability, Torpe’s women are strong, confident. Whether confronting the viewer with a direct gaze or seemingly indifferent to our presence, Torpe’s Women stand as empowered, driven by their own desires rather than those of the viewer. As if being “just for themselves” has always been their raison d’être.
Having stopped time for a moment, Torpe invites us to participate in unpacking the complexity of details to be found there - in the temporal shifts of mood or emotions; an eyebrow, a faint smile, a hairstyle; in all the small dramas of our everyday lifes.
RESONANT HUES
Af Amanda Færk, Hans Alf Gallery
DK: Anne Torpe's nye værker reflekterer over daglige ritualer og følelser af minder. To nye storformat gruppeportrætter ledsages af en række intime portrætter af kvinder. Selvom Torpe måske er mest genkendelig for sin bløde, elegante farvepalet og androgynøse figurer, gør denne udstilling det klart, at hun ikke blot er en maler af feminin skønhed, men en mester i struktur og komposition, der konstant omkonfigurerer sit billedrum for at formidle komplekse følelsesmæssige tilstande.
Torpes malerier er malet ud fra fotografier, fundet i vintage magasiner eller fotoalbums, og de synes ved første øjekast udelukkende at handle om kvindernes adfærd og effekten af farve og lys i scener fra, hvad der ligner intenst private sfærer. Men når man tilbringer tid foran Torpes malerier, ændrer de sig. Figurer og interiører begynder problemfrit at bevæge sig ind og ud af hinanden, da hvert maleri synes at være en undersøgelse af det at se og huske.
Torpes figurative kubisme, hendes fascination af, hvordan mønstre kan bruges til at skjule ting i et maleri, til at bremse vores opfattelse af dem, er allerede tydelig, hvilket ikke efterlader noget rum fladt eller ubehandlet.
Og dog er Torpes malerier af kvinder og deres interiører alt andet end stille; de synger i en kakofoni af farver, synlige penselstrøg, fortrukket eller dryppende, og pludselige bløde skygger. Vi har brug for synæstetiske metaforer for at rumme Torpes vision: en hel symfoni af urene lyde giver genlyd fra hendes voldsomme farvesans. Resonans stammer fra det latinske 're', der betyder 'igen', og 'sonare', der henviser til 'lyd'. Bogstaveligt talt: at lyde igen. I tilfældet med farver opstår resonans, når farver vibrerer ved en komplementær frekvens. De beriger hinanden, forbinder. De fremkalder følelser af erindring.
I individuelle eller gruppeportrætter vises Torpes kvinder i afslappede positurer, idet de indfanger sig selv og deres dobbeltgængere eller sjælevenner. Kvinderne poserer foran spejle eller hviler, slapper af, læser, spiller guitar, overvejer, dagdrømmer. De er ofte nøgne, og selvom nøgenhed historisk set har været forbundet med sårbarhed, er Torpes kvinder stærke og selvsikre. Uanset om de konfronterer beskueren med et direkte blik eller tilsyneladende er ligeglade med vores tilstedeværelse, fremstår Torpes kvinder som styrkede, drevet af deres egne ønsker snarere end beskuerens. Som om det at være "kun for sig selv" altid har været deres raison d'être.
Efter at have stoppet tiden for et øjeblik, inviterer Torpe os til at deltage i at afdække kompleksiteten af de detaljer, der findes der – i de midlertidige skift i humør eller følelser; et øjenbryn, et svagt smil, en frisure; i alle de små dramaer i vores hverdagsliv.