12. October – November 23th, 2024.
Opening Friday, October 11, 2024, 7 p.m.
The Düsseldorf artist is showing new paintings from the last two years. The exhibition title refers to the book of the same name by the Parisian musician and author Boris Vian (1920-1959), in which the tragic love story of Chloë and Colin is outlined in shrill colors and with surreal images. For example, Chloë’s fatal disease appears on the X-ray as a blooming flower growing on her lungs.
Jansen’s picture titles refer to this novel and his paintings draw their energy from a similar interplay between lightness and drama. He is a master of colors and often uses disparate color contrasts to transfer the superficial playfulness in his pictures to a deeper level: Behind his bulging formations of flowers, corals or other organic structures, the decay is always visible, behind harmony anxiety is revealed. In this reading, both – Vian’s novel and Jansen’s painting – are dynamic interpretations of the vanitas motif, one of the most enduring subjects in the history of art and literature.