In February and March London art gallery, Victoria Miro, shows 12 paintings and one complex room installation in a magical exhibition called 'Life in a Box' . John Kørner is a Danish artist, who is well known for his erudit and questioning canvases in which he challanges the viewer with various metetaphores relating to the human existence. The title of the exhibition, which in fact is Kørner's 5th solo show at Victoria Miro, refers to aspects of life - physical, emotional, ideological, conceptual, which constrain people and how we try to overcome them.
To bring his messages to life outside his paintings, John developed a wide-ranging practice where he constructs three-dimensinal installations, which speak beyond the boudries and complete the painted images. A frequent occurence on the exhibition are 'problems' - egg-shaped forms in different sizes and colors, which allude not to specific problems per se, but to the nature of problems as they emerge. Moreover, the artist points out to the issues of modernity, which evidentely decrease the quality of human life and our well being. Such is the accelerated pace of contemporary life, on which John comments in his first floor three-dimensional installation. His painting 'Twelve Hours' is completed by a mobile 'Stadium Bike' (a platform, with seats, which can be moved by one of audience members riding a bike). In his opening talk, Koørner mentioned that this installation confronts two constructing elements: intensfied pace of our lifes and the need to have connection with nature. By placing couple of seats together and introducing the need of collaborative work Kørner encourages the audience to break away from the popular scheme of individual art experience and enjoy his work collectively. In this way, Kørner shows his personal battle with the modern highly individualistic and egoistic world.
My favourite element of the exhibition is a massive 3D carpet, which has a trademill printed on it. There are couple of 'Problems' and 'Running Boxes' placed on the track, which symbolize that all of us have some kind of obstacles in the race of life. Here, Kørner equates the idea of running with the fundamental experience of life, of moving physically and mentally from one place to another. At the end of the track, there is a GYM BAR 2015, a climbing frame that dounles as a bar where a shot of alcohol is offered every Friday 4-5:30pm.
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