Better Together! Poul & Aase Gernes

Centered colored circles of varying thickness, sorted from small to large.

Poul Gernes & Aase Seidler Gernes, Target Painting, 1967, Collection: Sorø Art Museum, Photo: Anders Sune Berg

The art of Poul Gernes (1925–1996) enjoys cult status in Denmark. What is virtually unknown, however, is that his most important works from the 1960s through the 1990s were created in an equal partnership with his wife, the painter and textile artist Aase Seidler Gernes (1927–2018). Better Together! makes a long-overdue correction to art history by presenting, for the first time, the body of work attributed to Poul Gernes as the collaborative practice that it is. In addition to individual works, the exhibition features a wide range of joint projects and interdisciplinary collaborations.

Aase & Poul Gernes’ collectivist approach to art places people at the center and challenges the traditional notion of an elitist artistic genius. Their work is accessible and diverse. Their art was intended to appeal to as many people as possible and positively influence their surroundings. That is why their works are characterized by vibrant colors and simple, geometric shapes. Through their diverse interpretations of everyday life, they sought to create a backdrop against which people can feel at ease, flourish, and thus shape society in a meaningful way. Their approach is thus deeply democratic, without being political in the classical sense. And it conveys optimism, even in difficult times.

Better Together! at the Weserburg features, across nearly 900 m², a wealth of large-format wall works, paintings, drawings, textile works, furniture and clothing designs, films, documentary material, and life-size reconstructions of interior designs. The exhibition is a collaboration with the Kunsten Museum of Modern Art Aalborg and the Sorø Kunstmuseum. A joint catalog is being produced and will be available for the opening in Bremen.

Better Together! is accompanied by an extensive program that explores the Gernes’ materials and production methods, as well as their emphasis on collaborative processes—both practically and theoretically—across a variety of formats.