Sage Culture Presents De Profundis, Variations I by Leonardo Christian Anker Amadeus Vandal

Sage Culture is proud to present, De Profundis, Variations I, Leonardo Vandal’s first solo exhibition in the United States.

Leonardo Christian Anker Amadeus Vandal, who was born in 1988 in Copenhagen, Denmark, is a multidisciplinary artist, known to work across different mediums, often integrating performance and texts into his installations. 

De Profundis: (Latin: “from the depths or out of the depths”) introduces the body of work made in Brescia, Italy, during a residency program at Palazzo Monti from 2017–2018. The show, it’s an overture showcasing variations within different mediums including paintings, sculpture, and drawings. In the artist's words: “a medley of silence, reminiscing the past.”

De Profundis is also the title of Oscar Wilde’s book/letter written in solitary confinement to his lover, where he explains the contrast of light and darkness. From his imprisonment, the only way to release his soul was through writing. The confinement between body and soul is a crucial point in Vandal’s work.

“It is always twilight in one’s cell, as it is always twilight in one’s heart. And in the sphere of thought, no less than in the sphere of time, motion is no more.”

— Oscar Wilde

Through the use of abstract forms, natural materials, and often unusual media, chosen for their symbolic potency, Vandal deals with notions of universal balance and contrasts between opposing forces.

All images courtesy of Sage Culture