Kent Henricksen | Theatrical Gestures

Curators: Dalia Levin, Tal Bechler
Jan. 26, 2013 - Apr. 20, 2013

Born in New Haven, USA, 1974. Lives and works in New York
Marvelous Possessions, 2007, silkscreen, embroidery thread and gold leaf on cotton

For this series, Kent Henricksen used traditional printmaking techniques to create lithographs on linen, which he then elaborated upon by means of digital embroidery. His harrowing compositions build on the imagery of bourgeois tapestries while undermining their bucolic atmosphere, and transform decorative art into scenes haunted by ghosts and murderous hoods.
The figures and landscapes in these works are appropriated from various sources, including historical volumes and prints, old newspapers, and children’s books whose imagery combines morbid and sentimental elements. They also make reference to the work of various artists – including the Renaissance artist Albrect Dürer, the nineteenth-century Mexican artist Jose Guadalupe Posada, the American illustrator Mercer Mayer, and the Surrealist artist Max Ernst.