VAN HORN PRESENTS JAN ALBERS, “SONNENLICHT” SUNLIGHT), MAY 12 UNTIL JUNE 30, 2007


Jan Albers works in constant hover between reality and phantasy, between figurative and abstract. The exploding coloured lines, which mark his papers reveil the intensity of his artistic research .The bright colors and sharp lines, drawn in pencil with a geometric accuracy,partially hide the figures that he intends to portray, favoring an abstract reading of the artworks. After a deeper analysis their portrait nature appears more clearly.

Jan Albers *1971, lives and works in Dusseldorf. He exhibitied widely in international galleries and institutions like a.o. Sara Meltzer Gallery, New York; Konrad Fischer Galerie, Dusseldorf; CAM, Chelsea Art Museum, New York; Museum Het Valkhof, Nijmegen; Museum Baden, Solingen; Galerie Tanit, Munchen; Jablonka Galerie, Koln; Palazzo delle Papesse Centro Arte Contemporanea, Siena, San Antonio Museum of Art amm. In 2006 he received an Pollock Krasner Foundation Award. “Sonnenlicht” is his second solo-exhibition at VAN HORN.


Images : above from L – R,

Jan Albers, Dudbub, 2007, coloured pencil & collage on paper, 100 x 70 cm in plexiglass frame


Jan Albers, M.Ti.La.Dark, 2007, coloured pencil & collage on paper, 100 x 70 cm in plexiglass frame


Images : right (L-R),

Jan Albers, ADWaldsternHoar, 2007, coloured pencil & collage on paper, 100 x 70 cm in plexiglass frame


Jan Albers, SonnenLiHaarmonie, 2007, coloured pencil & collage on paper, 100 x 70 cm in plexiglass frame

The title of the show “Sonnenlicht” (Sunlight) reveals the vital energy of his pieces and references the wall-covering chalk-drawing, which fills with it’s rays the entire gallery. The walldrawing expands, proceeding from the paperworks, like an echo over the space and transforms the gallery into an obscure cult-space. Christian associations mix with Aztek sun cult and childbook illustrations.


The source of the pieces is hard to decrypt. It ranges from depictions of Jesus Christ to Hippie Clischées, from bearded Lumberjack-types to Dschingis Kahn and Tom Selleck. Famous characters alternate with figures which belong to the private or imaginery sphere of the artist. In powerful drawings they are cited, mixed and transformed unhierarchically in a brilliant chromatic synthesis.




Images : top from L – R

Jan Albers, Mustachermoon, 2007, coloured pencil & collage on paper, 100 x 70 cm in plexiglass frame


Jan Albers, Candydolo, 2007, coloured pencil & collage on paper, 100 x 70 cm in plexiglass frame