Kasper Eistrup Brick & Mortar

Ever occupied by history and its effect on society and human existence, Kasper Eistrup’s work entails a nostalgia resonant of Western post-war mythology in his choice of imagery. “Cars today are almost the exact equivalent of the great Gothic cathedrals,” Roland Barthes wrote. Similarly, the artist is interested in the physical world and consumed by its intricacy and details. This sense of materiality is also present in his recent embrace of photographic material as a natural extension of his work. He delves intuitively into these elements, not just placing them in the vicinity of each other, but overlapping, revealing an increasing sense of absurdity in our increasing digitalized world, where multiple things take place at once and our focus and emotional experiences seem to undergo continues devaluation.

Previously, Eistrup carefully counterposed his elements, dropping them into separate geometrical shapes that defined a sense of order, whereas now a thorough displacement in both form and movement is being explored. The artist appears lost in isometric drawings withstanding both conventional scale and coherent perspective, but rather projecting in characteristic bursts of intensity across the surface of the canvas. But the two-dimensionality of the painting also leads to questioning its relevance in today’s world.

Art can be a powerful tool to reproduce reality, and by using photomontage as well as recycled paper, cardboards and canvases, Eistrup tackles physical elements within the confines of the canvas, while also presenting an antithesis to mechanized production – instead bringing human craft and skill to the forefront. This idea is also present in the carefully designed frames having been constructed from reclaimed wood dating back to the 1930s, previously used in buildings, and thereby creating an architectural displacement not only in the subject on the canvas but also in the physical object of the painting itself.

Kasper Eistrup (b. 1973) is a Danish visual artist, living and working in Copenhagen. In 2018, Eistrup was commissioned to paint a portrait of HM King Frederik X of Denmark (then Crown Prince), which was revealed at the opening of the artist’s solo exhibition Fragmentarium at The National Portrait Gallery at Frederiksborg Castle. Eistrup has subsequently had exhibitions in Denmark, Sweden, China and Spain, most recently a large retrospective at Kastrupgårdsamlingen (2022).  Eistrup is part of the new season of DR’s “Kunstnerkolonien”, airing in January 2025. His work Confluence (2024) is the result of this and will be shown at Nivaagaard Malerisamling January 10 – April 13, 2025.