Artists

Jakob Hunosøe

Press release

SPECTA presents Joker, a new solo exhibition by Jakob Hunosøe, in which the physical boundaries of photography itself are expanded. The motifs - everyday objects such as kitchen utensils, packaging, an LP record and a matchstick - extend beyond the edges of the image and continue into the passe-partout, with repetitions and shifts in colours and lines, while the objects’ original functions recede entirely into the background. Analogue photography is no longer merely a window onto a specific arrangement of objects but becomes one material among several. Paper, photography, colour and frame together transform the work into a physical object. Jakob Hunosøe’s new works occupy an intriguing space in between. They are photographs but are equally concerned with the boundaries of photography itself. They depict tangible objects, yet these objects are reduced to their visual properties. The photographic work takes on the appearance of an abstract painting or collage, while the objects themselves retain an ongoing connection to reality. Jakob Hunosøe: “In recent years, my approach has moved towards a freer and more open direction. The images emerge without a predetermined concept or preconceived visual strategy. Objects such as jugs, vases, kitchen utensils and storage containers are used as pure forms and colours. With the camera fixed in position, the image is gradually constructed through repeated adjustments, additions and omissions until the composition is resolved. The motifs break out of the picture frame and continue into the passe-partout, where lines and colours are repeated and carefully balanced. These techniques extend the creation of the work beyond the photograph itself and introduce a distinct materiality. The viewer is invited to move closer to the work to engage with its surfaces and explore the encounter between photography and paper - between the photographed and the tangible. The works occupy a space between photography and the unique artwork, contributing to an ongoing exploration of the possibilities and materiality of photography in contemporary art.” The exhibition title Joker points to something capable of assuming multiple roles and disrupting an already established system. This is precisely how Hunosøe’s new works operate: they establish a precise visual system while simultaneously allowing something to break free. This may take the form of a torn edge of paper, a shift between the photograph and the passe-partout, or an everyday object that suddenly ceases to behave as what we know it to be. In his new works, Hunosøe draws on Italian design of the 1980s, particularly that of the Memphis Group, which included designer Ettore Sottsass, where everyday objects, colours and surfaces were employed in a playful and deliberately anti-hierarchical manner. At the same time, the visual language relates to the tradition of Concrete Art within modernism, as seen, for example, in the work of Franziska Clausen, where form, colour and rhythm exist in a carefully balanced interplay. These are not quotations, but rather part of a personal investigation into how a photograph can function simultaneously as representation, construction and object. In the exhibition, the works are installed on coloured surfaces that interact with the image fields and help dissolve the boundaries between photograph, collage, passe-partout and background. Joker thus continues Jakob Hunosøe’s longstanding exploration of the possibilities of photography, while opening up his works to a more physical and sculptural form. It is not the objects themselves that change, but the way we look at them. Jakob Hunosøe (b. 1975) lives and works in Copenhagen and graduated from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. Hunosøe is currently participating in the anniversary exhibition 30 Years: A Centre for Photography at Fotografisk Center. His solo exhibitions include presentations at SPECTA, Viborg Kunsthal, Phototek Esbjerg and Peter Lav Gallery. He has participated in numerous exhibitions in Denmark and internationally. His works are represented in collections including the Danish Arts Foundation, the National Museum of Photography and the City of Copenhagen.