Lasse Antonsen presents "Tatterdemalion"

Hatch Street Studios member Lasse Antonsen is currently showing his work in a show titled "Tatterdemalion" at the Van Vessem Gallery in Tiverton, Rhode Island. I was fortunate to have a chance to view the show last week and take the images posed below.

Lasse defines "tatterdemalion" as "a ragged person dressed in old clothes; a ragged or disreputable appearance." The gallery offers the following statement about the show: 

In Tatterdemalion, Lasse Antonsen presents small paper collages from the 2015 series, “Daily Gazette.” The collages are made of uneven, often colorful, geometrical forms, placed rhythmically on pages from a late 19th century New England scrapbook - a scrapbook which had already been densely glued with short stories, news articles, and poems. Also on view are large-scale paper and cloth collages from the 2016, “Budapest,” series. These collages are created out of brown paper bags and black cloth, and incorporate textile fragments from the Oriole Mill in Asheville, North Carolina. The collages are abstract, but appear to reference scarred walls with moving, organic forms. Early in 2016, Antonsen created two artist’s books series. The first, “Monat,” presents selections of “objects” on the pages of a German ledger from 1939-1940. The pages in the books call to mind catalog pages, or museum drawers with specimens. The second book series, “In Defense of the Accidental (for Odo Marquard),” consists of books created from brown paper bags, Japanese newspaper fragments, and other random, sometimes soiled, paper pieces. The series references the beauty of empty space inhabited by small visual clues. Also on view will be the 2014 sculpture, “Lunar Lands,” a transformed antique Japanese Bunraku doll.The sculpture is accompanied by a wall text made out of quotes.

The artist books laid on these tables are made from vintage papers collaged with fabric strips,
paper scraps, and found objects.

Wall view: decorative papers adorn old manuscript pages.

Large fabric collages on paper alternate with winged wire sculptures.

Details (above and below) of Lasse's large collaged works.

The exhibit runs until February 26. Gallerist Marika Van Vessem said she is planning an artist talk; I will add details here when they are available.