SPECTA represents a diverse group of Scandinavian and international artists. Presenting a wide range of media, the gallery profile emphasizes great variety with a focus on the artist’s original approach to material / media and precisely defined practices. The gallery's artists are all represented in public and private collections. Founded by Else Johannesen in 1980 SPECTA is one of the longest standing galleries in Denmark, and it was passed down to Gitte Johannesen at the beginning of 2019.
At CHART 2023, SPECTA will present selected works by three artists. In very different ways all three artists put together a number of the same kind of elements in order to create a sense of wholeness. Frances Goodman makes her dizzying paintings with small sequins. Upon close inspection, one loses a sense of the motif, in contrast to seeing the work from a distance where the image becomes clear. Carlos Aires uses repeating eye motifs as well as repeating materials, in the form of porcelain plates, to emphasise his main conceptual interests. David Svensson however works in the opposite direction, deconstructing whole objects by removing the covers of books, in order to explore their potential for abstraction.
David Svensson (SE)
David Svensson’s work often makes extensive use of readymades to investigate the physical properties of light - how it reflects, how it influences material and how it appears under different circumstances. In his ongoing series ‘Coverings,’ which uses old book coverings on canvas to create abstract compositions, Svensson investigates the tension that arises from any sort of subtle narrative suggestion. At the same time, these works foreground the material properties and possibilities of abstract painting and investigate the relationship between surface, colour and tactility
David Svensson (b. 1973 Skillingaryd; SE) lives and works in Malmö (SE). Svensson was educated at Konstögskolan, Malmö (SE), Kungl. Konsthögskolan, Stockholm (SE) and Statens Kunstakademi, Oslo (NO). Svensson’s work has been the subject of numerous solo exhibitions including at Moderna Museet, Stockholm (SE); Malmö Konsthall, Malmö (SE); Krannert Art Museum, Champaign (US); Hallands Konstmuseum, Halmstad (SE); Kunstmuseum Brandts, Odense (DK). His work is represented in prominent institutional collections including Malmö Konstmuseum, Malmö (SE); Hallands Konstmuseum, Halmstad (SE); Skissernas Museum, Lund (SE); Dunkers Kulturhus / Helsingborgs Konstmuseum, Helsingborg (SE); Nirox Foundation, Cradle of Humankind (SA); Auckland Art Gallery, Auckland (NZ).
Carlos Aires has said that “Money is the only link between all catastrophes and disasters generated by humans, including many of the seemingly natural ones”. In his works, he often destroys the very symbols of our dreams: original banknotes, religious symbols and vinyl records with pop songs. In this way, Carlos Aires uses our desire for more and for a carefree life to lure the viewer in. As we dig deeper, we see the backside of the coin. Carlos Aires’ works first attract us and then confront us with the malevolent nature of our current social reality.
Carlos Aires (b. 1974, Ronda; ES) lives and works in Madrid (ES). He obtained his BFA at the University of Granada, Granada (ES) in 1997 before completing postgraduate studies at Fontys Academy, Tilburg (NL), HISK, Antwerp (BE) and Ohio State University, Columbus (OH). His work has recently been the subject of exhibitions at Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, Boulder (USA); Imperial Belvedere Palace, Vienna (AT); Maison Particulière Art Centre, Brussels (BE); BB6 Bucharest International Biennial of Contemporary Art, Bucharest (RO); 5th Thessaloniki Biennial of Contemporary Art, Thessaloniki (GR); Museo de Arte Carrillo Gil, Mexico City (MX); Museum of Contemporary Art Canada, Montreal (CA). Aires is represented in important public collections including MACBA - Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art, Barcelona (ES); Fondation Francès, Senlis (FR).
Multi-disciplinary artist Frances Goodman was born in 1975 and lives and works in Johannesburg. Her work employs the materials of the beauty industry and interrogates the portrayal of women, hereby drawing attention to popular cultural definitions that narrow the possibilities of identity to extremes of consumption, obsession, desire, and anxiety. Physical presentation and transformation are both a crushing expectation and a source of empowerment for the archetypes in Goodman’s elaborate sculptures and installations. In her most recent series ‘Ecstasy,’ Goodman looks to the ways in which privilege seeks to liberate itself from existential dread through ritualized and commodified recreation.
Frances Goodman has exhibited widely across Europe and the United States as well as in her home country, South Africa. Recent and upcoming exhibitions include: Palais de Tokyo (Paris, group, Ubuntu - a Lucid Dream, 2021), SPECTA (solo, 2022), Les Filles du Calvaire (Paris, group, 2023) and SMAC Gallery (ZA, solo, 2023). Her work is included in a number of collections including: Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (MOCAA), Cape Town, The Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), Miami and the National Museum of African Art at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC.
