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V1 Gallery is pleased to present
Scenes from the Second Story
A solo exhibition by Rose Eken
OPENING RECEPTION: FRIDAY OCTOBER 3. TIME: 16.00 – 21.00
EXHIBITION PERIOD: OCTOBER 4 – NOVEMBER 15. 2025
Rose Eken’s new ceramic snapshots - an art oxymoron, if ever there was one, combines the dynamic, ephemeral and intuitive composition of the snapshot with the contemplative, sensitive, meticulous and often volatile process of working in ceramics.
The ceramic paintings revolve around themes such as vulnerability, human connection, disputed beauty, desire, empowerment, intimacy, womanhood, fleeting youth, admiration and how personal emotion intersects with history. The new works feel diaristic yet carefully attuned to how images circulate and resonate culturally. Collapsing hierarchies -treating carefully composed portraits, iPhone blurs, still lives and casual snapshots with the same seriousness and dedication. In the new paintings Eken elevates her subjects to icons while not letting go of grit, fragility and longing. Seemingly classic motifs arise from mundane situations at the local bar, exhibition openings and concerts. Rather than realism, she aims for emotional truth and poetic resonance. Tender, at times wistful, but unsentimental, engaging and deeply human.
Scenes from the Second Story portrays an extended creative community (musicians, artists, performers, writers and creators of all sorts). An eclectic group of humans bonded or loosely intertwined by curiosity, creativity and Rose Eken. In and out of orbit around her and each other. In and out of synch in continuous motion. An abstract atom diagram with an elusive core. An expanding map with a shifting center. A dance ensemble with individual soundtracks and choreographies. The works never become naval gazing, as you don’t need to know this eclectic cast of characters to engage with them. There is joie de vivre, combined with a tristesse in the exhibition, remembering that dedicated creativity always comes at a cost, but not necessarily traditional benefits in your own lifetime. Moments like this never last - unless you keep and care for them. Scenes from the Second Story is a fractured poetic portrait of an ongoing moment -a movement.
- Jesper Elg
Rose Eken, b. 1976, holds an MA from Royal College of Art, London. She has exhibited extensively in and outside of Denmark. Recent and major exhibitions include The Fools Journey, Eighteen, Copenhagen, DK; Light Your Shine with Mie Elise Kjærgaard, Gammelgaard, DK: And the Forests Dream Eternally, V1 Gallery, DK: Billboard Istanbul, TR; In Residence, MOCA Tucson, Arizona, US; Afterbeat, Horsens Art Museum, DK, and Remain in Light, The Hole, NY, US. Her work has been permanently acquired by ARoS Aarhus Art Museum, Horsens Art Museum, The New Carlsberg Foundation, and The Danish Art Foundation for Visual Arts. Eken lives and works in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Scenes from the Second Story will be accompanied by a catalogue published on the occasion.
Slim & Krystal have created an opening performance for the exhibition. It is free to attend, but as space is limited, we recommend you arriving early. Performance start at 17.00. Duration 15 minutes.
