Galerie Rodolphe Janssen

As a part of Brussels Art Days – 11 to 13 September – Rodolphe Janssen Gallery will feature the work of two artists: Torbjørn Rødland and Chris Martin.

American artist Chris Martin works and lives in Brooklyn. It will be his second solo exhibition at Rodolphe Janssen Gallery. He is known for providing his works the freedom to attain fresh meaning, to add mystery to the practiced logic of advertising images that otherwise clog public spaces. Martin works with an ever-expanding vocabulary of images, frequently introducing materials that are foreign to painting—newspaper clippings, vinyl records, pillows, photographs, glitter—to his canvases. Curious and visually arresting, these materials nevertheless have their roots in vernacular forms of expression, harkening to a world beyond the orthodoxy of abstract painting. Here, Martin calls for immediate dialogue with his paintings’ shimmering surfaces, bright vertical spaces, and familiar figures. Mother Popcorn’s painting takes its title from the James Brown hit which is considered to be one of the most pivotal tracks in the development of his distinctive funk sound. The text along the side of the painting: “James Brown Dances and Directs The Popcorn with the James Brown Band” (the title of Brown’s album) places Martin’s abstract motif as a stand in for pictorial narrative, the loud rhythmic pattern conveying the essence and energy of a live performance.

Norwegian photographer Torbjørn Rødland will present his exhibition I am a Photograph. Halos of milky light and long contemplative shadows envelop Rødland’s subjects. A photograph ripe with sensuality, sure, but also a photographer’s photograph—one that nods to the artist’s analogue process in which form materializes from liquid. The photographs presented in I am a photograph exhibition are democratized by the light they all contain. His photographs subvert the visual culture. What may seem good at first glance, or sadly banal suddenly turns out to be grotesque and strange.

Save the date:
Chris Martin – Solo exhibition will run from 11 September to 17 October at Galerie Rodolphe Janssen, Brussels.

Torbjørn Rødland – I am a Photograph will run from 11 September to 17 October at Galerie Rodolphe Janssen, Brussels.