Regional Artists Gallery
Bennington Museum
Thorsten Dennerline’s work begins with an investigation of concepts that arise through an interest in words, poetry, and the landscape. The artist states, “This is fueled by my desire to translate these observations and experiences into visual language. In much of my painting and printmaking, I work on top of photographs. The mixture of photography with drawing marks or oil paint creates a juxtaposition of materials and visual language. Flying and floating forms metaphorically reflect on the space between what is understood and what is not, what is real and what is not, and on differences between the micro and macro-cosmos. In some cases, the drawing marks simply serve as corrections or deletions of the photographic information. These modifications are meant to address the poetic possibility of an in-between space.”
One of the artist’s recent series of small mixed media drawings, entitled “Flowers,” uses photographs that document a trip through the botanical gardens in Copenhagen, while a recent group of large paintings makes use of found electron micrograph images of streambeds. Both are considered by the artist as examples of “micro-landscapes” in the sense that they are dealing with very small spaces.
In the summer of 2011, Dennerline took up artist’s residency in the restored studio of painter Asger Jorn on the isolated island of Læsø, in Kattegat. This small island lies in the body of water between Denmark and Sweden. Jorn was the artist’s grandfather, so this location was both personally meaningful and provided a quiet and contemplative time for Dennerline to create a new series of works. “What I was really curious about, however, was what kind of energy I could extract from my grandfather’s work space.” states the artist. In his short time there, Dennerline produced eleven paintings, thirty-one pencil drawings, and four silver point drawings. “All the pieces were a direct response to my feelings and experiences there.” says Dennerline.
Images: Untitled, mixed media and digital pigment on panel, 2012
About the Artist
Dennerline received a BFA from the University of Massachusetts and an MFA from Syracuse University. He has exhibited his work across the United States, in Vallparaiso, Chile, as well as Copenhagen and other cities in Denmark. His prints are included in numerous collections including the Saint Louis Art Museum, Kunstindustri Museet in Copenhagen, Denmark, Yale University Library, University of Vermont Special Collections, the Library of Congress and libraries at Stanford University and UCLA. Most recently he has had solo exhibitions at Galleri Tom Christoffersen in Copenhagen and group exhibitions at IPCNY in New York City and Dishman Art Museum in Beaumont, Texas.
In 2000, he was awarded a one year Fulbright grant for Research and Study Abroad where he produced a large body of paintings and a collaborative book project with Chilean printmakers. He has been a resident artist at the MacDowell Colony, New Hampshire, (2005), Frans Masereel Center in Belgium (2008), and most recently Læsø Artists' Studio, Læsø, Denmark (2011). He is currently on the faculty at Bennington College. He has taught, since 1999, at Southern Illinois University and the University of Notre Dame.
Bennington Museum
75 Main Street (Route 9)
Bennington, VT
Open 10 am to 5 pm, daily through October
www.benningtonmuseum.org
802-447-1571
