DALEK + MAGNUS GJOEN
 
42 X 30 CM
ED. /60
 
80 X 100CM
ED. /30
 
ARCHIVAL PIGMENT INKS ON MUSEUM GRADE 308GSM COTTON RAG
 
IN GOOD COMPANY
A COLLABORATION BETWEEN DALEK & MAGNUS GJOEN
 
Dalek’s iconic Space Monkeys find themselves unexpectedly transported into an antique still life from Magnus Gjoen’s archive of historical paintings.
At the centre of the composition, two Space Monkeys appear to have invaded the original scene as if by a glitch in reality, each raising a hammer as though engaged in a deranged game of whack-a-mole. Their expressions are almost crazed and, between them, Dalek’s unmistakable eyes break through the surface of the painting, watching from holes in the canvas.
The tension between the refined language of the historical still life and the manic energy of Dalek’s characters is central to the work. Gjoen has long drawn on historical and Renaissance imagery, using the beauty, symbolism and formality of the past as a stage for contemporary imagery, humour and darker references. Here, Dalek’s Space Monkeys feel both completely out of place and strangely at home.
Gjoen’s camouflage further blurs the boundaries between the two worlds, fragmenting and concealing elements of the original painting while allowing the Space Monkeys and watching eyes to emerge. The result suggests that these characters have not simply been placed into the painting, but were somehow already hiding within it.
The title, In Good Company, adds a final touch of irony: two seemingly unhinged characters have found themselves among the elegant flowers and figures of another century and appear perfectly happy to be there being that the Space Monkeys or Dalek and Gjoen. 
Following the earlier collaboration The Locals Seem Friendly, the work brings Dalek’s chaotic universe and Gjoen’s fascination with the past into an unexpected but remarkably natural collision.