MAGNUS FREDERIK CLAUSEN

Magnus Frederik Clausen is an artist whose practice has been questioning the medium of painting for several years. His work, sometimes hidden or covered, reconsiders the place of the commodity and its related display. More recently, he started delegating the making of his paintings.

The following text is cited from the conversation Flowers and horses Interview with Magnus Frederik Clausen, published online by Weinspach, 2022

"The group of work you refer to does not have a title, but we can call them clock paintings. It started around December 2020/January 2021 when I had to teach my oldest son to read the clock. I then drew a series of analogue and digital clocks in a sketchbook, and my son had to translate each clock to its adverse on the opposite page. So, if I wrote 20:11, he had to translate that to an analogue clock and the other way around. I’m a big fan of children’s creative output, and my son’s drawings are no exception. But what struck me beyond that, was that I realized I could orchestrate the making of an artwork within a simple system of translation. The following day, we continued the homework, but this time in my studio, with paint on canvas. Since then, I have hired several assistants to paint these works for me, and each of them contributes to the project with their gestures and temperament, just as different musicians would play the same song differently. Since I started this project, it has struck me that one of the reasons I paint is that I love to watch paintings, and with this project, I’m watching more paintings than ever before."

"Unlike the paintings, the drawings are done by me and not the assistant. The drawings are my score that I pass over to the assistant with simple instructions before the painting starts. You find paint on these paper works because they often lie around on the floor next to the canvases, so the assistants unintentionally spill paint on them or wipe off the brush. I have now used many different time units for my paintings, and some seem to have a more substantial emotional effect than others. Raising the question of what time unit to choose, I find it inconsequential as time repeats itself constantly. I have even started to think that the topic of time may be less relevant since I could use any other unit like the word ‘Horse’ or ‘Flowers and horses’, etc. The more I work with this project; it has occurred to me that what I’m trying to do is identify what painting consists of."

"When we work on these paintings in the studio, the assistant is the one with the brush in the hand. My role is more like a conductor who decides when the process starts, when it stops, what time unit to use, the size of the canvas, etc. All these small decisions are part of making a painting in the end, and I’m trying to sharpen my eyes on these details. The project is about taste and the act of choosing. I have tried to hire several assistants at the same time and ask one of them to act as the conductor instead of me and then I would leave the studio and come back the following day in the hope of fresh new paintings, but it didn’t work since I hadn’t taught the assistants my taste. A taste that constantly changes. But the assistants have also started to instruct me in painting, so the roles change. Until now, it is still me who signs the paintings, but maybe we should consider changing that."

"I have a background in filmmaking. The film medium, in most cases, is defined by the work of many individuals from the director, actor, camera, sound, cutter etc. I remember the beauty of working with film; the result always reflected this collaboration in a work none of the individual people involved would be able to create alone. Once, I played in a band for a short period, but I have long given up on music since I’m a terrible musician, though my big dream was to make pop music. But I have now started to believe that I can become a dancer."

Magnus Frederik Clausen (Denmark, 1981) lives and works in Copenhagen.

He has exhibited at Billytown - Den Haag, CANTINA - Aarhus, Braunsfelder - Cologne, Claas Reiss - London, Freddy Gallery - Harris, C.C.C. - Copenhagen, Rinomina - Paris, Spazio ORR - Brescia, AGA Works/Tørreloft - Copenhagen, The Uffizi - New York, CGK - Copenhagen, Magasin Lotus - Copenhagen, JIR SANDEL - Copenhagen, Matèria Gallery - Rome, Years - Copenhagen, Palazzo Lucarini - Trevi, Goya Curtain - Tokyo, Catherine Zeta - Cologne, Haus Wien - Vienna, Art Sonje Center - Seoul, Kunsthal Aarhus - Aarhus, Copenhagen Contemporary - Copenhagen, Heine Onstad Art Center - Høvikodden, Kunsthal Charlottenborg - Copenhagen, Ringsted galleriet - Ringsted, 56th Venice biennale collateral events - Venice, Bruch & Dallas - Cologne, Luma - Arles, Kunstraum - London, Accademia di Romania - Rome, Arti - Amsterdam, Kenya International Film Festival - Nairobi, Traneudstillingen - Hellerup, Maison du Danemark - Paris, Berlin International Film Festival - Berlin.

MAGNUS FREDERIK CLAUSEN

ECCSHOP #02

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