In this iconic series from the 1990s, Jonathan Monk stands waiting in an airport with a handmade sign at the arrival gate. In each work, the sign spells out the name of a famous person. Some are fictitious, some are no longer alive, yet each holds a unique claim to fame. The figures are a combination of famous artists and people from the art world such as John Baldessari, Leo Castelli and Peggy Guggeinheim, politicians and social figures like the Dalai Lama, Salman Rushdie and Fidel Castro, celebrities, movie characters and musicians including Blur, the Pet Shop Boys, Thelma and Louise, Madonna, Sharon Stone and WHAM, as well as more personal figures such as “Mom”.⁠ ⁠ The series has an inherent performative quality that comes through in the photographs. From the outside, we as the viewer are aware that Monk will be waiting indefinitely, that the person in question will not be coming through the gate at any moment. This however stands in stark contrast to the people who wait alongside him who are, in actuality, waiting for someone to arrive. The sense of emotion and anticipation from those waiting creates a palpable feeling of tension that runs through each photograph.⁠ ⁠ Over twenty-five years on, this series provides a unique impression of the people and celebrities who had an impact on the political, social and cultural realities of the time. Both playful and thought provoking, we are left with the job of looking back through those figures and thinking about who has stood the test of time.⁠ ⁠ Jonathan Monk⁠ Waiting for famous people (ABBA) (1997)⁠ Colour photograph⁠ 20 x 30 cm⁠ Edition of 5 (+ 1 AP)⁠ ⁠ #jonathanmonk @monk_pictures #abba #waiting #nicolaiwallner⁠

Rasmus Myrup’s “fyr” series takes as its linguistic starting point with the word that refers to a pine tree or pine wood—fyr—which is congruently used as a slang word referring to a “guy”.⁠ ⁠ In Myrup’s context, the term is allowed to live within this duality. Each work in the series refers to a different kind of guy—a big guy, a sweet guy, a pretty guy, a soft guy. Echoing the meaning embedded within the term, the figure that Myrup refers to is not necessarily any man or men in general, but rather a specific guy, a “I just met a guy” kind of guy.⁠ ⁠ The qualities of each guy are reiterated in their physical form. Flot fyr (pretty guy) dangles from the ceiling, almost chandelier like, dripping in chains and sparkles. Stor fyr (big guy)’s physical attributes leave nothing to the imagination. Sød fyr (sweet guy) looks as if he’s covered in icing and sprinkles. Furthermore, each work is created using pine in various forms as a central material. This not only serves as a reminder back to its linguistic base, but points outwards to a more nuanced exploration of romance and cruising culture.⁠ ⁠ Nature has long provided a space and safe haven for romantic encounters of many kinds. Nature (or what we nowadays would consider as “natural areas”) has long acted as a screen or buffer, as a bed, as a mood or setting, as an element of mystery or intrigue, as playing into a fantasy, as a way of being anonymous, as a refuge. Myrup eloquently hints at this reality, while giving us the space to ruminate and bring in our own perspectives.⁠ ⁠ Works from this series are currently on view as part of "Precoming" his solo show at Overgaden, which will run until the end of the month⁠ ⁠ Photo: David Stjernholm #rasmusmyrup @rasmusmyrup #sødfyr #sweetguy #fyr #overgaden @overgaden_ #nicolaiwallner

"Yours to Keep", J.G.Arvidsson's inaugural solo exhibition with the gallery is currently on view though October 28th.⁠ ⁠ J.G.Arvidsson’s practice investigates the nature and interrelation of memories, emotions and visualisations. People, often shown in profile or silhouette, feature prominently throughout J.G.Arvidsson’s work. Their presence is given without context, yet there is a warm sense of familiarity that emanates from them. They are set in hazy almost dream-like landscapes and other specific scenarios to point towards narratives that tug at something internally.⁠ ⁠ The resulting sense of purposeful—yet delicately subtle—ambiguity is echoed in J.G.Arvidsson’s use of techniques. Paint, canvas and oil stick among a variety of other media overlap on pieces of found and up-cycled wood. Applied thickly and scratched off in places, the layers, the seams and the physical processes of the work are left deliberately exposed. The result is an incredibly expansive depth of both material and narrative.⁠ ⁠ J.G.Arvidsson’s motives point to the untenable ways in which we create and maintain our memories and our connections to our pasts, our selves and our day-to-day.⁠ ⁠ #jgarvidsson @y.g.arvidsson #yourstokeep #painting #nicolaiwallner

Marie Lund’s (b. 1976, Denmark) practice poetically exposes imprints and reactionary forces as she explores the place and moment of intersection where different objects meet the external world. Working between sculpture and installation, Lund uses a variety of materials such as textiles, found objects, cement, wood, copper and other natural materials.⁠ ⁠ Lund thoughtfully manipulates these elements, as the physical traces of her process are left visible for us to find in the forms she creates. Leading us down a path of new experiences and new perceptions, she draws out the sublime from the ordinary. In so doing, Marie Lund’s works have a distinctly atmospheric quality about them, as if the dichotomies between form and content, internal and external, the body and the material, which are explored in her work can be felt throughout the space. It is within this tangible feeling that Lund invites us to explore, showing us a world which has the sensation of being, at the same time, both familiar and unexpected.⁠ ⁠ "A lot of the shapes arrive from existing objects that have some sort of intermediary position between the body and the space; objects that operate in a specific context with a specific function, like handles, railings, brackets, grips and switches. Often, I apply a certain level of abstraction by scaling them up and doing them in another material. Released from their function and the kind of obligations they would normally have of being productive or supporting, you are allowed to see them as pure shapes – while they still hold this kind of operational quality of something that can facilitate and enable." - Marie Lund⁠ ⁠ ⁠ Photo: Rebecca Krasnik #marielund #studio #nicolaiwallner

🍅⁠ David Shrigley⁠ Untitled (If You Don't Like Tomatoes) (2020)⁠ Acrylic on paper⁠ 75 x 56 cm⁠ 88.5 x 68 x 5 cm⁠ Unique⁠ ⁠ #davidshrigley @davidshrigley #tomatoes #nicolaiwallner

A sneak peak of Jose Dávila's studio in Guadalajara, Mexico.⁠ ⁠ #josedavila @josedavila #studio #nicolaiwallner

Jose Dávila⁠ Untitled (Brushstroke) (2020)⁠ Archival pigment print⁠ 230 x 295 x 8.5 cm⁠ Edition of 4 (+1 AP)⁠ ⁠ #josedavila @josedavila #brushstroke #lichtenstein #nicolaiwallner

OPEN CALL FOR STUDENTS AT THE ROYAL DANISH ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS COPENHAGEN⁠ | GALLERI NICOLAI WALLNER’S 30th ANNIVERSARY EXHIBITION ⁠ ⁠ Galleri Nicolai Wallner invites all artists currently studying at The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen, as well as this year’s graduates of the Academy to send a submission to participate in the gallery’s 30th Anniversary exhibition.⁠ ⁠ The gallery’s inception and early years were based on close collaborations between Nicolai Wallner and a group of young artists who studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen. These cherished collaborations helped form and shape the values of the gallery, and remain an important cornerstone of the gallery today.⁠ ⁠ This year marks the gallery’s 30th anniversary. We would like to celebrate our anniversary by looking forwards to the next generation artists at the Academy.⁠ ⁠ We invite all students from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts to apply to be part of an anniversary exhibition opening in November 2023.⁠ ⁠ This exhibition is a celebration of the next generation of artists and the city in which the gallery is based.⁠ ⁠ For more information, please contact [email protected] today, or no later than September 29, 2023. ⁠

Chris Johanson is known for a style of painting that depart from more academic approach, embracing instead the situations, emotions and people in his surroundings. Using painting as a tool to be able to understand and contextualising his own position within the world, this means of knowing is thus passed on to us, through the work, allowing us to see it through our own eyes and our own experiences. Focusing on the urban realities and identities found along the West coast, problems of alienation, the need to conform, self-delusions and other similar anxieties are shown in an unflinching manner, often through the means of text or speech bubbles.⁠ ⁠ This direct approach to these difficult subjects is juxtaposed by Chris Johanson’s playful aesthetic and use of found materials. Wood, drop cloth, paint and other elements come together to create a vivid and compelling experience. By breaking away from the traditional two-dimensional idea, the result is a more sculptural and atmospheric style of painting that we are invited to explore.⁠ ⁠ Chris Johanson⁠ EING IN MY LIFE NO.1 (LOS ANGELES LANDSCAPE PAINTING NO.6) (2014)⁠ Acrylic on wood⁠ 116 x 120 x 8 cm⁠ ⁠ Chris Johanson (b. 1968, USA) has become one of America’s most challenging painters. A fundamental figure within the San Francisco Mission School, he has had recent solo presentations at LA MOCA Pacific Design Center (Los Angeles), the Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery (Saratoga Springs), Portland Museum of Art (Portland) and Malmö Konsthall (Malmö), as well as group presentations at Louisiana Museum of Modern Art (Humlebæk), SFMOMA (San Francisco), Museum of Contemporary Art (Chicago), CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary (San Francisco), MCA Chicago (Chicago), and the Whitney Biennial (New York), Istanbul Biennial (Istanbul) and the Berlin Biennale (Berlin). Johanson’s works can be found in the public collections of Hammer Museum (Los Angeles), San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (San Francisco) and the Whitney Museum of American Art (New York) among others.⁠ ⁠ #chrisjohanson @chrisjohansonart #nicolaiwallner

J.G.Arvidsson's inaugural solo exhibition at Galleri Nicolai Wallner is on view through October 28.⁠ ⁠ J.G.Arvidsson’s practice investigates the nature and interrelation of memories, emotions and visualisations. People, often shown in profile or silhouette, feature prominently throughout J.G.Arvidsson’s work. Their presence is given without context, yet there is a warm sense of familiarity that emanates from them. They are set in hazy almost dream-like landscapes and other specific scenarios to point towards narratives that tug at something internally.⁠ ⁠ J.G.Arvidsson⁠ Getatcho (2023)⁠ Mixed media on carved wooden plates⁠ 110 x 110 x 5 cm⁠ ⁠ #jgarvidsson @y.g.arvidsson #nicolaiwallner

🚲️⁠ David Shrigley⁠ Untitled (For sale) (2020)⁠ Acrylic on paper⁠ 75 x 56 cm⁠ 88.5 x 68 x 5 cm, framed⁠ Unique⁠ ⁠ #davidshrigley @davidshrigley #forsale #crapbike #nicolaiwallne

"[In this work, Jose] Dávila replicates the mathematically astute configurations of Judd’s Stacks, but corrupts one of the crucial aspects of the pieces—the material itself. Both works share the investigation of space, with the equidistantly placed components of the stack filling as much space as they leave blank, but in this case even the positive space, the cardboard box, is comprised of a material whose only purpose in our globalized trade and distribution networks is to be filled with goods and then recycled. In an interview Dávila says, “I tend to relate these works to Judd in the sense of the arithmetic of space, and how we operate in it. How the distance between things influences our behavior, more than on the pristine quality of the materials Judd used. This is why I use, for example, cheap cardboard of simple driftwood. Judd’s precept surely holds true, but I think is universal and can be achieved with materials associated with poorness or third world. … In many poor areas of the world, cheap and found materials are reconfigured to create something else than the purpose these materials or objects were originally created for. I like that cue. It is a very interesting form of recycling, reusing, which boots the creative force that comes out of the scarcity of resources.“[i] ⁠ ⁠ [i] Greg Lindquist, “Jose Dávila,” Arte al Día Internacional 143 (July 2013): 32–39.⁠ ⁠ Jose Dávila⁠ Untitiled (2010)⁠ Cardboard and bottle caps⁠ 340 x 60.5 x 54.5 cm⁠ ⁠ #josedavila @josedavila #donaldjudd #stacks #nicolaiwallner