grazerkunstverein

(Performance)

Avoiding The Genius / Blackbirds

Jesper List Thomsen

29/02/2024, 18:30

Ezio Gribaudo’s exhibition The Weight of the Concrete culminates with a series of events exploring the nexus of concrete poetry, publishing, graphic design, typography, feminism, and performance, inspired by Gribaudo and Adriano Spatola’s pioneering publication Il Peso del Concreto (1968). The series marks the end of an exhibition and sets the stage for a forthcoming publication published by Axis Axis and Grazer Kunstverein and edited by Tom Engels and Lilou Vidal, revisiting Gribaudo’s legacy and intertwining his graphic work with new and historical experimental poetry, slated for summer 2024 release.

Responding to Il Peso del Concreto, Jesper List Thomsen is set to deliver readings from two texts, Avoiding The Genius (2017) and Blackbirds (2018), each unraveling the complex ties binding body, language, and image. Avoiding The Genius draws upon language as a tool to dissect and articulate the body, crafting a method that operates like a drawing—tracing forms and lines, portraying the body in a pose of defiance, capturing resistance through physical and linguistic expression. Blackbirds delves into the nuanced evolution of an individual’s bond with their foundational language, charting a journey from initial learning phases to the eventual, unavoidable decline of linguistic engagement. Together, these texts illuminate Thomsen’s engagement with how one portrays and perceives physical and linguistic selves in the world.

JESPER LIST THOMSEN (b.1978, Denmark) is an artist based in London and Torino. He works with text, painting, sculpture and performance. Recent exhibitions and performances have taken place at MACRO, Rome; Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne; West Den Haag, Den Haag; Braunsfelder, Cologne; Fanta-MLN, Milan; Radio Athènes, Athens; Hot Wheels Athens, Athens; Parrhesiades, London; ICA, London; Künstlerhaus Stuttgart, Stuttgart; Bureau des Réalités, Brussels. BASE BASE, a book-length collection of his writings was published by Juan de la Cosa, Mexico City/London in 2018 and his book FREEEee was published by L’Esprit de l’Escalier, London/Helsinki in 2021.