Lars Christensen transforms the canvas into a powerful experimental space, where the flat surface of the painting is not just an image but a physical arena for action. In his works, he breaks away from the figurative and immerses himself in an intense, tangible process of perforating, cutting, and tearing the canvases. It is a form of painterly brutality, where you not only see the paint but feel its physical presence.

Christensen’s works are a continuum of experiments, where the canvas and the paint merge into something more—a fusion of materials that are both dense and fragile. In his quest for the next step, he moves painting away from the wall, and in his newest sculpture and relief works, he challenges the boundaries between the two-dimensional and three-dimensional.

Since the first nails punctured the canvas in 2007, Christensen has created a practice that is both methodical and spontaneously impulsive, a balance between planning and intuition. His works contain a wild, physical energy but also a curious, experimental mind. Each perforation, each cut, opens up a new aspect of his artistic journey. How the paint breaks free and interacts with space fascinates both him and us.

Christensen works with colors and materials as sober markers, not as symbolic messages, and his works appear both as painterly sculptures and as an exploration of how form and space can meet in a new way. He constantly challenges both himself and us with his works, which remain both a visual and physical enigma, where the answers are never entirely simple, but always present in the concrete work.

Words by Natalia Gutman, Philip Pihl, Camilla Mosekjær Christensen

This book is published with with generous support from:

New Carlsberg Foundation, DK

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Binding: Hardcover
ISBN: 9788797449790
Pages: 178
Size in mm (WxHxD): 223x286x25mm
Weight: 1165g