Anders Scrmn Meisner: Shark Smiles and Sunflowers

24 May - 22 June

Anders Scrmn Meisner’
Shark Smiles and Sunflowers
Anders Scrmn Meisner

Anders Scrmn Meisner (b. 1981, Copenhagen) is a Danish visual artist, currently residing and working in Copenhagen. His artistic oeuvre is a reflection marked by an understated elegance that melds ornate designs, elements of wit, and symbolism within imaginary landscapes. Meisner's creations resonate with a certain somberness, conveying depth without excessive embellishment. Often likening his work to contemporary cave paintings, these pieces are 'descriptive without being explanatory', they invite viewers to explore a world that is not external, but a mental representation experienced within themselves. Inspired from traditions of French painting Meisner's imagery weaves together loose impressions, art historical allusions, and personal recollections.

Solo exhibitions include (Upcoming) Solo Show, The Pit, Los Angeles (2025); (Upcoming) Solo Show, Isabel Sullivan, Hans Alf Space, Copenhagen, Denmark (2025); Everything is Amplified, Hans Alf Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark (2024); Shark Smiles and Sunflowers, Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, London, UK (2024); Members Only, Hans Alf Gallery, Project Room, Copenhagen, Denmark (2023); I’m Soft, Like Andalusian Cotton, Tinimini Room, Dordrecht, the Netherlands (2022); Apricots and Freshwater Pearls, Hans Alf Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark (2022); Angel, Hans Alf Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark (2020); Lettres de Ma Pucelle, Art Dromé, Valance, France (2019); Modern Love, Hans Alf Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark (2018); Her Lost Necklace/His Big Chance, Lotsremark Projekte, Basel, Switzerland (2018), I Will Never Live in California (and other broken dreams), Francis Boeske, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2018), Under Distant Palm Trees, Hans Alf Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark (2016); Smalls, Hans Alf Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark (2015); The World Was Weird, Hans Alf Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark (2014); Compramos Tu Oro, AJG Contemporary, Sevilla, Spain (20130); Thieves and Saints, Ash, Dust and Black paint, Warsaw, Poland (2013); Russell Nachman & Anders Scrmn Meisner, Hans Alf Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark (2012); Stuffed and Exhibited, Heimat Design Gallery, Dortmund, Germany (2011); Scrmn & Noelson, Subbacultcha Gallery, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2011).
Group exhibitions include (Upcoming) Expo Chicago with The Pit, Chicago (2025); (Upcoming) Annual Summer Group, The Pit, Los Angeles (2024); (Upcoming) NADA, Miami (2024); (Upcoming) Enter Art Fair, Hans Alf Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark (2024); (Upcoming) La Specola, Isabel Sullivan Gallery, New York (2024); Enter Art Fair, with Hans Alf Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark (2023); The Great Big Winter Show, Hans Alf Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark (2022); Future Memories, Singing Waves Gallery, City University, Hong Kong (2021); The Great Big Winter Show, Hans Alf Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark (2020); Art Herning, Hans Alf Gallery, Herning, Denmark (2019); Artists First, Francis Boeske Projects, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2017) Got it for Cheap Vol. 2, 3, 4 & 5, David Risley, Steinsland Berliner, Agnes B, and Black Bear, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Paris and New York (2016); Iris Time, L’Inlassable Galerie, New York, USA (2015); Micro Salon, L’Inlassable Galerie, Paris, France (2015); Koelner Liste w. Hans Alf Gallery, Köln, Germany (2015); Art Basel, Hans Alf Gallery, Basel, Switzerland (2015); Zimmer Frei, Museet Koldinghus, Kolding, Denmark (2014); Forårsudstillingen, Charlottenborg, Copenhagen, Denmark (2012).
Shark Smiles and Sunflowers

A bunch of sunflowers plucked from a neighbour’s flower bed. The sensuous shadows of marble sculptures in a garden at sunset. The heady scent of a lilac tree on a late summer’s evening. Shark Smiles and Sunflowers, Danish artist Anders Scrmn Meisner’s first solo exhibition at Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, London, presents a playful new series of paintings that explore the emotional value of objects and the power of visual storytelling.

The titles of Meisner’s works are almost as important as the paintings themselves. He builds his compositions from the lines that he jots down in his notebooks and then paints the titles on to the sidebar of his completed canvases. As such, the viewer encounters the work from two perspectives: first as a purely visual image and then with a written prompt that offers a clue into the story that Meisner is imagining. A seemingly simple painting of a vase of sunflowers, for example, takes on another layer of meaning when we read the title, I Stole For You Last Night while Lilac Fragrance, My Blue Eyes, Your Full Moon imbues the painting of a feathery blue, leafy tree with a sense of romantic nostalgia.
To Meisner, these works are all ‘giant postcards of affection.’ They capture specific moments in time, memories of an emotional experience and physical connections. The flat, graphic style of the imagery plays into the postcard aesthetic while the vivid colour palette and Pointillist-inspired backdrops evoke a youthful, summery mood.

At the same time, Mesiner takes a tongue-in-cheek approach to such nostalgia. View From Expensive Holiday, for example, depicts a nonspecific sunny, seaside landscape while Chiesa La Domenica (Italian for church on Sunday) features a bunch of flowers in a Ferrari-branded pot. Both of these works knowingly play on stereotypes, inviting the viewer into the joke, while the flattened perspective and addition of slightly surreal or unexpected elements, such as the two orange suns in View From Expensive Holiday or the pink high-heels in Chiesa La Domenica, create a sense of intrigue. As Meisner puts it, ‘I am just starting the story. The rest is left to the viewer’s imagination.’

It is this playfulness that makes Meisner’s work so captivating. Each image is simultaneously familiar and open-ended, filled with endless potential. Just as Meisner takes pleasure in allowing himself to paint whatever he feels like, ‘it doesn’t matter how weird it is,’ his work invites us to let our minds wander and dream.
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- Anders Scrmn Meisner, For Tired Wives, 2024

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Anders Scrmn Meisner: Shark Smiles and Sunflowers

Anders Scrmn Meisner’

Anders Scrmn Meisner

Shark Smiles and Sunflowers

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