Formerly a shoe designer for Vivienne Westwood, Magnus Gjoen’s migration to the world of printmaking has been nothing short of spectacular: his highly stylised and effortlessly stylish prints have earned him a reputation as one of the contemporary art world’s most sought after rising stars.
Incorporating elements of renaissance, baroque, street and fine art, Gjoen’s work explores the juxtapositions between life and death, power and fragility, and beauty and destruction, for an aesthetic that is at once opulent and macabre. From human skulls to hand grenades, Gjoen drapes his subjects in sumptuous swathes of Baroque design, creating a dramatic style that demands attention: this is not for the faint of heart.
