Morten Lassen

Hyper-normalisation

31 January — 16 February 2019

Born 1968
Lives and works in Denmark

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Represented by nanda\hobbs

The art of Morten Lassen deals with “that which we cannot see”—the world of transition and transmission. Data: images, words and indeed emojis, beams throughout the world in real time between devices in the cyberspace. It has been the driving theme in his practice for over a decade. Lassen, working as a latter-day Kandinsky, finds pictorial rhythms in the ether. He is an artist who images the unimageable.

Hyper-normalisation is an exhibition that explores cyberspace further than the utopian information paradise that it is often portrayed as.  In our data-filled world of social media and newsfeeds, Lassen asks us what happens when this world is hijacked—when we begin to ask; “Am I pretty enough?”  “Am I successful enough?” “Do I love my country enough?“.

It is apparent that the infiltration and direction of the data we are exposed to has the power to make a reality TV star—the most powerful man in the world.  Subliminal and manipulative messaging is layered—hidden between holiday snaps and social media critiques from the virtual soapbox of people’s fingertips.

With so much information, the depth of our true understanding of anything becomes ever shallow. Two hundred and eighty characters now describes momentous moments in history. Our view of the world is becoming increasingly pixilated and distorted—blurred like a kaleidoscope in motion.

Lassen’s stratification of history, through line and layers of paint, echoes the idea of the past for us. What has been before will affect the layers above. The juxtaposition of pixilation over the more organic world of his picture plane, points to the deconstruction of the real landscape. His work is broodingly influenced by his Nordic sensibility and the location of his studio next to Kornberg Castle on the windswept coast near Copenhagen.

The Russian American anthropologist, Alevei Yurhak, first coined the phrase “hyper-nomalisation” to describe society in USSR in the years before its demise. It was a time when the institutional elite maintained that all was perfect—there was nothing wrong in their country. It was an edict that was based on lies. All knew that it was not perfect and that it would eventually fall over, but went along with the ruse. To admit the system would fail was too terrible to contemplate. Now, the world is faced with a similar conundrum at the other end of the political spectrum.

Lassen’s powerful messaging is present throughout the exhibition. Yet, he reminds us of the physical world—the light and the dark—with all its beauty and potential for hope.

 

Film by Brianna Roberts.

\ Exhibition featured works

Morten Lassen

Hyper-normalisation A

2018 \ Oil and spray on linen \ 180 x 240cm

Morten Lassen

Hyper-normalisation B

2018 \ Oil and spray on linen \ 180 x 240cm

Morten Lassen

Hyper-normalisation C

2018 \ Oil and spray on linen \ 180 x 180cm

SOLD

Morten Lassen

Hyper-normalisation D

2018 \ Oil and spray on linen \ 180 x 180CM

SOLD

Morten Lassen

Hyper-normalisation E

2018 \ Oil and spray on linen \ 180 x 180cm

SOLD

Morten Lassen

Hyper-normalisation F

2018 \ Oil and spray on linen \ 150 x 150cm

Morten Lassen

Hyper-normalisation J

2018 \ Oil and spray on linen \ 150 x 150cm

Morten Lassen

Hyper-normalisation K

2018 \ Oil and spray on linen \ 150 x 150cm

SOLD

Morten Lassen

Hyper-normalisation M

2018 \ Oil and spray on linen \ 120 x 120cm

SOLD

Morten Lassen

Hyper-normalisation O

2018 \ Oil and spray on linen \ 120 x 120cm

Morten Lassen

Hyper-normalisation P

2018 \ Oil and spray on linen \ 120 x 120cm

Morten Lassen

Hyper-normalisation R

2018 \ Oil and spray on linen \ 120 x 120cm

Morten Lassen

Hyper-normalisation U

2018 \ Oil and spray on linen \ 90 x 90cm

Morten Lassen

Hyper-normalisation V

2018 \ Oil and spray on linen \ 90 x 90cm

SOLD

Morten Lassen

Untitled 100

2018 \ Oil and spray on paper \ 65 x 50cm paper size

SOLD

Morten Lassen

Untitled 101

2018 \ Oil and spray on paper \ 65 x 50cm paper size

Morten Lassen

Untitled 102

2018 \ Oil and spray on paper \ 65 x 50cm paper size

SOLD

Morten Lassen

Untitled 103

2018 \ Oil and spray on paper \ 65 x 50cm paper size

SOLD

Morten Lassen

Untitled 104

2018 \ Oil and spray on paper \ 65 x 50cm paper size

SOLD

Morten Lassen

Untitled 105

2018 \ Oil and spray on paper \ 65 x 50cm paper size

Morten Lassen

Untitled 106

2018 \ Oil and spray on paper \ 65 x 50cm paper size

SOLD

Morten Lassen

Untitled 107

2018 \ Oil and spray on paper \ 65 x 50cm paper size

SOLD

Morten Lassen

Untitled 108

2018 \ Oil and spray on paper \ 65 x 50cm paper size

SOLD

Morten Lassen

Untitled 95

2018 \ Oil and spray on paper \ 65 x 50cm paper size

SOLD

Morten Lassen

Untitled 96

2018 \ Oil and spray on paper \ 65 x 50cm paper size

Morten Lassen

Untitled 97

2018 \ Oil and spray on paper \ 65 x 50cm paper size

SOLD

Morten Lassen

Untitled 98

2018 \ Oil and spray on paper \ 65 x 50cm paper size

SOLD

Morten Lassen

Untitled 99

2018 \ Oil and spray on paper \ 65 x 50cm paper size

Morten Lassen

\ Install photo

Morten Lassen

\ Install photo

Morten Lassen

\ Install photo

Morten Lassen

\ Install photo

Morten Lassen

\ Install photo

\ Other exhibitions

Jun Chen

RED LAND

24 September — 19 October 2024

OTHER WORLDS

Group Exhibition

3 September — 21 September 2024

Suzanne Archer

Winds of change and sands of time

12 August — 31 August 2024

Contact Us

to find out more about Hyper-normalisation.

12 - 14 Meagher Street Chippendale, NSW 2008
Opening Hours
Monday to Friday, 9am - 5pm Saturday, 11am - 4pm Closed Public Holidays (and Easter Saturday)