Kasper Sonne: Last Goodbye

Kasper Sonne: Last Goodbye
Kasper Sonne Years Gone By, 2023 oil on linen (detail)

Kasper Sonne: Last Goodbye
January 18 – March 2, 2024
MARUANI MERCIER
Avenue Louise 430
Brussels

MARUANI MERCIER is pleased to present Last Goodbye, the debut solo exhibition of their newly represented artist Kasper Sonne. From his Brooklyn studio of ten years to his childhood home that he lived in again upon returning to Denmark, the paintings in Last Goodbye depict physical places that carry a meaningful significance to Kasper Sonne.

Whether these places are attached to emotions that are positive, melancholic, or somewhere in between, the works immortalize evocative memories wherein he also seeks closure. The cathartic process of painting them presented a salutary last goodbye, and, similarly to the nature of the eponymous song by Jeff Buckley which inspired the exhibition’s title, there remains a nostalgic affinity for these places.

Kasper Sonne: Last Goodbye
Kasper Sonne
Lost in Hollywood, 2023 oil on linen
250 x 195 cm 98 3/8 x 76 3/4 in
(KS/PAINT/006)
 © the artist and Maruani Mercier Photography by Peter Boel

The source materials used in the paintings are comprised of personal images from his archive from the last 15 years. Like a collage, he pieces together various fragments to create a single image, and never paints directly from a photograph. He writes, “I’m not interested in depicting reality – I’m interested in visualizing a mood…to me there’s obviously a clear connection between all my works. I don’t wish to reveal too much
about my personal motivations, as I want the viewer to be able to make their own interpretations – but perhaps my interests can be identified as a fascination with the destructive elements in man and nature, combined with an overall feeling of displacement and melancholy.”

Kasper Sonne: Last Goodbye
Kasper Sonne
Last Goodbye, 2023
oil on linen
230 x 185 cm 90 1/2 x 72 7/8 in
(KS/PAINT/004)
 © the artist and Maruani Mercier Photography by Peter Boel

Kasper Sonne (b. 1974 Copenhagen, Denmark) graduated from The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Schools of Architecture, Design and Conservation in 2000 and has for the past fifteen years been living and working between Copenhagen and New York. With roots in design and graffiti, Kasper Sonne spent years making large, bold figurative paintings, before turning to abstraction to fully explore the qualities of
medium, without being beholden to narrative.

Kasper Sonne: Last Goodbye
Kasper Sonne
Years Gone By, 2023
oil on linen
250 x 195 cm 98 3/8 x 76 3/4 in
(KS/PAINT/008)
 © the artist and Maruani Mercier Photography by Peter Boel

Throughout his practice, Sonne has continuously investigated the way we interpret our surroundings and make sense of the world we live in by purposefully constructing and deconstructing reality. His works are included in several public collections such as Fuban Art Foundations in Taiwan, David Roberts Art Foundation in London and HEART Museum in Herning, Denmark.

Kasper Sonne: Last Goodbye opens on January 18th until March 2nd, 2024 at MARUANI MERCIER

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