Preview Friday, May 31st from 5 to 7pm. The artist will be present and everyone is welcome. Have a look at a selection of some of the works below.
Galleri Lene Bilgrav is pleased to invite you to the opening of the exhibition Ptolemy Mann: A Danish Colour Odyssey. Is the first solo exhibition by Ptolemy Mann at the gallery. Ptolemy Mann is a British textile artist, who has a unique approach to her hand dyed, hand woven and wall-based works. At this exhibition we will present new woven works which have all been made at the Danish Art Workshops and are inspired by the Danish artist Wilhelm Lundstrøm and the Danish architect Finn Juhl.
Ptolemy Mann on her inspiration for this particular series of works
“After a deeply inspiring visit to Ordrupgaard in December 2022 I began researching the work of Wilhelm Lundstrøm and Finn Juhl first hand. From this investigation I decided to develope a series of hand dyed and woven artworks, paintings and ‘Thread Paintings’ inspired by Lundstrøm and Juhl’s use of colour.
A surprising meeting with the Danish colour palette
The Danish and Scandinavian aesthetic abroad has become synonymous with a desaturated colour palette. It is therefore surprising to learn about the work of Lundstrom and Juhl and a time in the 1940’s and 50’s in Denmark when a vibrant, Modernist colour palette was prominent in both their work. Finn Juhl thought of colour as an ’emotional trigger’ and it’s this emotional approach to colour that interests me. When viewing their work now, it strikes me how timeless it is and how the current resurgence of stronger more saturated colour in art, culture and interiors brings a new appreciation of their aesthetic.
Colour as an emotional trigger
My intention is to create a series of wall based artworks, exploring the relationship between desaturated and saturated colour and the notion of colour as an emotional trigger. I am developing a new technique where I paint in acrylic on top of the hand dyed and woven cloth, therefore combining both weaving and painting together in a new way. I feel this specific technique also echoes the relationship between Juhl as a designer and Lundstrøm as a painter; the linear restriction of the slow weaving process on a dobby loom (personified by Juhl’s modernist furniture design) creates the ‘canvas’ and is consequently contrasted and added to with the quick gestural expression in paint over the top (echoing Lundstrøm’s paintings). The result is a series of 30 paired artworks made over the last year at The Danish Art Workhops in Copenhagen, each reflecting a personal ‘Danish Colour Odyssey’. Rather than a literal representation of a landscape or view these small works encapsulate how I feel emotionally when I am visiting this place that has become so important to me.”
Ptolemy Mann (1972) is an artist and textile designer, and she is educated at Royal College of Art and Central St. Martins College of Art & Design in London. She is based in the UK and has exhibited and lectured worldwide. She has made several site-specific pieces, among these a commission for Tate Modern in London.
See others works by Ptolemy Mann here: Ptolemy Mann
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- Ptolemy Mann: Lundstrøm Blues, 2023. Akryl på håndfarvet og vævet viscose / Acrylic on hand dyed and woven viscose and mercerized cotton, 44 x 44 cm. incl. frame.
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- Ptolemy Mann: Lundstrøm Citrine, 2023. Håndfarvet og vævet viscose / Hand dyed and woven viscose and mercerized cotton, 44 x 44 cm. incl. frame.
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- Ptolemy Mann: After Finn (Blue Spectrum), 2023. Håndfarvet og vævet viscose / Hand dyed and woven viscose and mercerized cotton, 44 x 44 cm. incl. frame.
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- Ptolemy Mann: After Finn (Indigo Black Spectrum), 2023. Håndfarvet og vævet viscose / Hand dyed and woven viscose and mercerized cotton, 44 x 44 cm. incl. frame.
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- Ptolemy Mann: Thread Painting (Juhl’s Threshold), 2023. Akryl på håndfarvet og vævet viscose / Acrylic on hand dyed and woven viscose and mercerized cotton, 43 x 43 cm.
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- Ptolemy Mann: After Finn (Blue Grid), 2023 Håndfarvet og vævet viscose / Hand dyed and woven viscose and mercerized cotton, 43 x 43 cm.
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- Ptolemy Mann: Lundstrøm Viridian, 2023. Håndfarvet og vævet viscose / Hand dyed and woven viscose and mercerized cotton, 43 x 43 cm.