En Face

September 11th – October 16th 2010

Vernissage and book release September 10th, 5-8pm 

Performance and concert by Manuela Barczewski

It is a great pleasure to introduce Ida Kvetny's first solo exhibition at Helene Nyborg Contemporary; En Face. The exhibition shows new works produced during a residency in LA spring/summer 2010 and includes painting, drawing, installation and video.

Ida Kvetny's works are characterized by their strong energy and powerful visual language. The paintings and drawings overflow with ornaments, clues  and meanings, which produces  a continuous transformation of the motif. The encounter between numerous forms and characters, that move in a constant flow between figuration and abstraction is a reoccurring theme in Kvetny's works. It seems as if the images are split into a variety of colors, layers and fragments. Joint tracks and complex meanings, pointing in different directions indicate a wealth of associations and interpretations that challenge the viewer.

Kvetny is, among others, inspired by the computer games she played as a child. It is explicitly expressed in Memories, a  sculpture in which small characters from a cartoon universe erupt from the surface. What might seem chaotic at first glance is composed by figurative and narrative elements that are slowly deciphered when looking at the motif .

The  references to graffiti and computer games, as well as elements of nature,  can be seen as an attempt to navigate through a complex identity where nature and modern culture meet. Questions about identity are also found in the title of the exhibition En Face which refers to the  meeting of the work and the viewer. The understanding of Ida Kvetny's works are neither bound to the motif nor the title, but evolves as part of the chain of associations that sets off from the canvas and continues in the viewer's imagination.

Ida Kvetny (b. 1980 in Denmark)  holds an MFA from Central St. Martins College in London. She exhibited recently at Kunsthal Charlottenborg,  Copenhagen (DK),  Arken Museum of Contemporary Art, Ishøj (DK), Kunsthallen Brandts, Odense (DK), VEGAS Gallery, London (UK), Chausseestrasse, Berlin (G), The Purple Pineapple Projects, L.A. (US) and Raid Projects (US).  She received grants from the Danish Arts Council , Knud Højgaard Art Foundation, Ellen Battell Stoeckel Fellowship Grant, Yale University and The New Carlsberg Foundation.