Viewing room

Le Paradis Perdu

Magnus Gjoen

Jealous East

28 Jun 2018 — 15 Jul 2018

Magnus Gjoen’s intricate, thought-provoking reinventions of classic masterpieces and relics will be making their way to Jealous East for a solo exhibition. A new print created in the Jealous studio will be showcased alongside other works by the artist under the exhibition title Le Paradis Perdu.

Le Paradis Perdu, also known as Paradise Lost; is an infamous poem written by the 17th century English poet John Milton. It is considered by critics to be Milton's best work, and helped solidify his reputation as one of the greatest English poets of his time.

Magnus Gjoen

Magnus Gjoen’s works examines how to change peoples relationship and preconceived notions of objects. Something which is potentially extremely destructive can be made into beautiful yet fragile objects of art. It’s this misconception of beauty which Magnus Gjoen wants us to see in a different light, be it weapons, animals or the human race itself. The latter is capable of creating immense beauty but also capable of destroying it all. Taking inspiration from street and pop art and juxtapositioning it with fine art, he creates new and modern takes on old masterpieces, manipulating something powerful and strong into something fragile but beautiful. He often questions the correlation between religion, war, beauty & destruction in his art. Magnus Gjoen was born in London to Norwegian parents and studied design in London and Milan and has worked as a denim designer and graphic designer before embarking on a career as an artist.