Asger Jorn. Den røde jord. Expressionismus und Abstraktion

In the organizer's words:

The exhibition of the Danish painter, graphic artist and sculptor Asger Jorn (1914-1973), who was also active as a textile and jewelry artist and left behind a large literary oeuvre, shows around 70 of his works in the Museum Peter August Böckstiegel. Following on from the highly successful show "Gesture. Informel. Private.", the exhibition presents an artist who was of great importance for European art after the Second World War.

Like few other artists, Jorn was able to continue the ideas of Expressionism and develop a completely independent style of painting through the influences of "informal" abstraction, Surrealism and Action Painting. The artist maintained a distinctly Scandinavian spirit in his paintings - he admired and explored Danish folk art as well as prehistoric evidence or the legendary world of Nordic cultures. His pictorial world is often populated by mythical, often demonic and bizarre creatures, which manifest themselves in free narration solely as a result of Jorn's artistic energy. In this and with his attentive view of the developments in the art of his time, he broke national boundaries - among other things as co-founder of the important artists' group "CoBrA".

With the greatest freedom and driven by the desire to accept failure as well as creative "vandalism", Jorn devoted himself to art in a life of tireless activity - mediating between the great poles of realism and abstraction, high and popular culture, mysticism and banality. Jorn's art is poetic, but also political, in parts as far removed from this world as it is completely at home in it.

The exhibition in Werther cannot therefore be a retrospective of Asger Jorn's work, but alongside paintings and prints from all phases of his career, the focus is primarily on sculptural and textile works - the loom on which Jorn wove his tapestries can also be exhibited here for the first time. Through these works and Jorn's early influence by Expressionism, there are certainly links between Jorn, Böckstiegel and Westphalia - this should also become clear in the exhibition title, "Den røde jord", the title of a large-format lithograph by Jorn - the "red earth" for him the Jutland, for Böckstiegel the Westphalian homeland, for both the origin and source of inspiration from the beginning of their artistic careers, which became the basis of their artistic work in different ways.

The exhibition is being created in cooperation with the Museum Jorn in Silkeborg and its curator Lucas Haberkorn. The second stage of the exhibition will be shown at the Emil Schumacher Museum in Hagen in 2025. The exhibition is generously supported by a private donation.