It is truly an aesthetic pleasure to step into the bright museum on the west side of the idyllic Mosvatnet in Stavanger. Here, in Jan Groth’s hometown, the artist’s powerful universe unfolds in full breadth. But it is not the experience of a small local artist we get. It is a powerful encounter with one of our biggest international stars. Groth spent most of his life in New York. In 1986 he had a solo exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum. He has also exhibited at the Musée d’Art Moderne in Paris and other prestigious arenas. In 2017, he finally received the highly deserved honor of being named a festival exhibitor here at home. The great summer investment For half a century, Jan Groth explored the line’s relationship to the surface; the white line in a charcoal black tapestry, like a crack of light, or dark sculptural lines, like architectural drawings in space. NEVER BORING: Throughout his art, Jan Groth has explored the line’s relationship to the surface. For some reason, it never gets boring. Photo: Erik S. Jørgensen When Groth fell asleep quietly on March 2 this year, after a long and productive artistic life, the large solo exhibition now on display at the Stavanger Art Museum was already being planned. “Jan Groth: Course and volume” is the museum’s major summer investment. His latest work Groth worked with drawing throughout his career. In the exhibition we can see both some of his oldest sketches, but also some really spectacular murals that were the very last thing he did. These drawings are reminiscent of fast-paced calligraphic characters that carry a hidden meaning. He started as a painter, but went on to create tapestries. The tapestry artist Benedikte Herlufsdatter was Groth’s teacher in the tapestry technique. She later became his wife and artistic partner. When the marriage was dissolved in the early 80’s, the two continued to work together until she became ill and later died. At this point, Groth himself also stopped weaving. PARTNERS: Benedikte Herlufsdatter, later Groth, trained Jan Groth in the demanding tapestry technique. Photo: Erling Mandelmann The original image of the act of creation When you look at so many of his works together, it becomes very clear how accomplished Groth’s focus is. The same motif over and over again; The line that draws against a background. And there is really no small or insignificant problem he has tackled here: It is the very original image of the artistic act of creation, and what one must also be able to call a human basic gesture. As an expression of the urge to set aside a trail, make a “mark making”, as the Stone Age hunter 6000 years ago carved his pictures into the mountainside. And I experience this experience of something timeless and almost archaic in the face of Groth’s powerful lines. VOLATILE: The pictures have something sketchy and fleeting about them. At the same time, they are characterized by a striking formality. This is not something anyone could rattle off. Photo: ERIK S. JØRGENSEN The monumental and the intimate The sculptures, which appear as black metal lines in the room, resemble spears, and can make us think of ancient finds. The interplay between the spatial and the flat, the monumental and the intimate gives it a unique strength. AS A SPEAR: Jan Groth’s sculptures are reminiscent of ancient finds, writes news’s reviewer. Photo: Erik S. Jørgensen One might wonder that he did not get bored, and that the audience does not seem to ever do that either? Why in the world does this project not get boring? The fact is, it never does. You can storm through the museum and take in the mighty beauty, or sit down for hours and feel how these lines carve into you. His works have a high-pitched and quiet beauty. They are both characterized by something peaceful, but also something trembling intensely. As if the line is a trembling nerve. Through this beautiful and comprehensive exhibition, Groth consolidates his position as one of our greatest. news reviewer Title: «Jan Groth – Course and volume» Curator: Vibece Salthe Place: Stavanger Art Museum Date: 6 May – 4 September
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«Jan Groth – Course and volume» at Stavanger Art Museum – Reviews and recommendations
