Peter Larsen | Clown Factory

We’re working hard at the clown factory... Working around the clock at the clown factory. At some point in time at the clown factory, you can’t tell who are the clowns, and who is working there.

- Peter Larsen 

Bricks Gallery is pleased to present Clown Factory, a solo exhibition by Peter Larsen. Spanning the entire gallery, this marks Larsen’s third solo show with us and his first time presenting stoneware reliefs, displayed alongside paintings on canvas and works on paper.

Clown Factory points to the exhausting or meaningless situations we remain in, even when they no longer serve us. This deeply personal exhibition unfolds across three chapters: Lefthanded Piano, Softly Spoken Lies, and Firesale. Spread across three gallery rooms, the chapters trace Larsen’s artistic and personal journey during a pivotal period in his life: from renewal, through the present, and toward a decisive break.

Lefthanded Piano - the Future

Lefthanded Piano presents Larsen’s stoneware and wood reliefs for the first time, marking a new chapter in his practice in which new materials are explored. On a personal level, the works signal a reawakening and a newfound love for artmaking. 

Larsen’s visual universe is shaped by personal and often odd observations from everyday life. Through imagination and craft, he translates lived experiences into humorous and peculiar forms. Rather than offering clear explanations, the works invite questions and resist fixed interpretation.

The title Lefthanded Piano refers to something seemingly explicit yet fundamentally abstract: how can a piano be either left- or right-handed? Larsen describes the idea as humorous yet impossible, mirroring the logic of the works themselves. For instance, in Relief 1, a human-like figure wanders through a colourful landscape. Surrounded by grass, oversized flowers, purple snow-covered mountains and a burning moon, the figure moves toward what appears to be a portal, suggesting a step into the unknown. While the visual language is direct and literal, the meaning remains surreal and unresolved.

Softly Spoken Lies - the Present

Softly Spoken Lies centres on large-scale paintings on canvas and reflects the present: a familiar and established reality shaped by repetition and recognition. Here, the structures and narratives we learn to live with come into focus, even as the distorted logic introduced in Lefthanded Piano lingers.

Recurring elements from previous works - such as the cat figure, the pyramid and the swimming pool session under the full moon - appear throughout the paintings, hinting at the artist’s recurring feelings toward them, as well as to his previous self. A sense of nostalgia runs through the works, layered with naivety, as seen in the unusually yellow lake in I gamle dage (In the Olden Days) and the warped face-like form in Stort hoved på museum (Large Head in a Museum). Through Larsen’s colourful strokes and playful approach, the works suggest comforting lies that we want to believe.

Firesale - the Past

The final chapter, Firesale, consists of framed works on paper created in 2024 during a transformative period in Larsen’s life. Although rooted in the past, the works function as a concluding gesture within the exhibition, carrying traces of what once was while serving as the foundation for the preceding chapters.

With their modest scale and material, the works hold a sense of fragility. Their narratives remain playful and ambiguous, positioning them as quieter, personal remnants in contrast to the earlier chapters. Larsen refers to these drawings as the last works saved from a burning house, representing what he held close during this time. Although the fire may have shaped them, the works embody a sense of renewal, marking Larsen’s decision to let go and leave the clown factory.

- Text by Amanda Dam

Peter Larsen (b. 1984) is a Danish visual artist, who lives and works in Copenhagen, Denmark. Larsen holds an MFA completed in 2013 from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen. Recent exhibitions include ‘Peter Larsen & Mugi Takei’ at PULP (MA, USA, 2023), ‘Why the Long Face?’ at FRMD Gallery (LDN, UK, 2023), and ‘Fremtiden Er Aflyst at Danske Grafikere’ (CPH, DK, 2022).