In 1965, the American art critic Lucy Lippard wrote about one of Richard Tuttle’s (1941-) wall mounted objects, saying that they were “hovering between two and three dimensions,” and had “an air of indecision that is difficult to separate from their modesty.”
Bodil Nielsen’s paintings possess the generous quality of giving more space than they take, both physically and mentally, against all logic.
The layers of meaning found in her works are calibrated with such gentleness that the viewer finds a weight and peace in lingering over them. But nothing is still about them. On the contrary, there is a continuous vibrating sensuality in her works, fueled by the fact that there is no central perspective in Nielsen’s universe. Everything is always relational and, as Lippard suggests, ambiguous.
Her boundary-defining work with the “open” nature of painting offers innovative interpretations of the medium’s ability to embrace scale, the indefinable, and a multi-sensory perception.
The American artist Agnes Martin (1912-2004), along with Richard Tuttle, serve as references for me in encountering art that embodies these qualities. Like Bodil Nielsen in this exhibition, they moved between painting, paper, and textile work. Martin lived and worked in isolation in the desert of New Mexico, and she painted her works in a state of, in her own words, “not thinking.”
In Nielsen’s case, the intellect is similarly set aside in favor of an intuitive clarity that generates a unique state of presence and closeness when the viewer allows associative thought streams to flow in encountering her works. For over 30 years, Bodil Nielsen has consciously and deeply listened to – and processed – the boundaries of painting. Color and form, in particular, have been explored in fluctuating open and “temporary” situations and relationships.
www.ftn-books.com has 1 Nielsen book available.
