Past

Adam Christensen: Shitty Heartbreaker

24 Aug – 20 Oct 2018

In his artistic work Adam Christensen places himself at the epicentre of situations where he is not capable of controlling the consequences. This vulnerability presents itself especially in his performances, and it can often be difficult to distinguish between the artist and his performed persona as he unfolds anecdotal narratives marked by fragmentation and discontinuity rather than linear stringency.

In his first major solo exhibition at a Danish art institution, Adam Christensen presents a series of new works that constitute a comprehensive scenography. Shitty Heartbreaker is partly inspired by surroundings, stories, and social relationships from his everyday life, and partly based on a video work still in progress entitled Eyes of Blood, an erotic thriller made in collaboration with the artist Sidsel Christensen exploring power relationships in a universe of female superheroes. In an atmosphere inspired by the grunge movement of the 90s, the components of the exhibition – as the clichés of its title imply – crosscut between the personal and references to popular culture, constructing a narrative of heartbreak, desire, memory and identity. With an unimpressed attitude and touch of ironic distance, the dirty, brutal and semi-biographical elements are combined with a thin-skinned intimacy that draws the viewer into a realm where the boundaries between reality and fiction blur.