Carl Krull
Formation Gallery
26 Apr 2024 – 01 Jun 2024
Formation Gallery is proud to present Carl Krull's second solo exhibition in the gallery. With
NECTAR, Krull showcases a more loose and free expression in his artistic practice through a
series of new paintings. The joy of painting flows freely, like nectar from the artist's hand.
For over 10 years, Carl Krull worked exclusively in black and white. During this time, many
constraints and dogmas dominated, aimed at breaking the very essence of the line, which is
fundamental to the artist's work. In this period, known as the artist's "seismic period," the
contour line ceased to be central, and the motifs appeared through a multitude of
interrelated lines. After Krull moved from Copenhagen to his current home and studio in the
countryside, he began painting exclusively in colors.
Where Carl Krull was previously confined to a dogmatic seismic universe in black and white,
the barriers are now completely down, and the joy of painting flows openly. The line is given
freedom, and anything can happen. Fresh and colorful, Krull's new paintings unfold, pointing
to the exhibition's title, NECTAR - one feels drawn in, captivated by the appetizing and
sensory expression.
With this second exhibition at the gallery, Carl has thus let loose and found an even more
freely imaginative expression. The colors are very vivid, almost technicolor, and they harken
back to the title, suggesting flowers and honey, where the motifs seem almost edible in
their intensity and explosion of color. The body is more in focus, arms, legs, and a wild
freshness immediately catch the eye. Krull has opened himself up to a freer expression.
In the exhibition "Protagonist" two years ago, we saw the first steps in this newly liberated
aesthetic. He opened up to painting and colors at Formation Gallery's inaugural exhibition.
Here, the portrait, the protagonist, was at the center. Fingers moved across the canvas as if
on a misted window or mirror after a steaming bath. The contour was lifted, and the face
emerged through thousands of circuits, longitudes, and latitudes intersecting in a complex
tangle. In the new paintings, the artist has let go of all constraints. The experiences gained
previously are baggage that occasionally still surfaces, but there are no rules anymore.
Meticulously and curiously, Krull excavates the motifs from the layers of paint and canvas.
In a performative balancing act, the artist experiments with adding, mixing, stopping,
continuing, destroying, painting over, and "finding" the motif, while his own body works,
traverses, circulates, and attacks the artwork.
For Krull, the title of the exhibition is ambiguous. It takes him back to his childhood when
he spent every summer visiting his grandparents in Poland. Upon arriving at the Polish
countryside close to the Ukrainian border, the first thing he did was run out to his
grandfather's bees in the garden to watch them dance in the air, in and out of beehives. The
honey from his childhood bees sticks in his memory as a sweet reminder. At the same time,
the title leads his thoughts towards his mother, who was also an artist. Her works were
often inhabited by the bat and the hummingbird, which, like the bee, also drink nectar.
Nectar is also the drink of the Olympic gods, their source of eternal life. The life of the
artworks continues after the artist's own life is over, like a blooming nectar-filled fruit that
remains forever young and relevant. Welcome to NECTAR.
Carl Krull (born 1975) graduated from the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Poland and
the San Carlos Academy of Fine Arts in Mexico. His works have been exhibited at venues
such as ARoS, Charlottenborg Kunsthal, and V1 Gallery in Denmark, as well as in cities like
Formation Gallery, Gasværksvej 9, 1656 Kbh V, formation-gallery.com
Paris, Tokyo, and Chicago. Carl Krull is known for his seismographic method, where he
creates recognizable forms through a sea of undulating lines that break the two-
dimensionality of the paper, resembling topographic maps. His video documentation
showcasing his unique artistic process has gone viral worldwide, making him one of the
most followed Danish artists on social media.
