HIDE IN PLAIN SIGHT

Magnus Gjoen
2023
Limited Edition of 25
Ø 70 cm
Reverse-printed sterling silver glass mirror
Made in Italy
Signed and numbered on verso
From The Allun Lewis Collection

THE STORY BEHIND THE PIECE

Sometimes the artwork isn't simply something you look at.

Sometimes you're actually part of it.

That's what makes Hide in Plain Sight so different from almost every other Magnus Gjoen piece within my collection.

It isn't a conventional artwork hanging behind glass.

It's a mirror.

And the moment you stand in front of it, you enter the artwork yourself.

HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT

Across the surface, Magnus combines dark, almost camouflage-like forms with fragments of classical floral imagery and beautifully detailed butterflies.

Some elements immediately reveal themselves.

Others disappear into the pattern.

And then, underneath everything, is your own reflection.

The title suddenly starts to make complete sense.

Hide in Plain Sight.

Because nothing here is actually hidden.

It's all directly in front of you.

You simply have to notice it.

THE BUTTERFLIES

The butterflies are what initially bring the piece to life for me.

Against the darker forms surrounding them, they feel delicate and temporary — flashes of colour and beauty sitting on top of something considerably heavier.

There is transformation in them too.

A butterfly begins life as something completely different before eventually emerging into the form we recognise.

And whether Magnus intended that particular interpretation or not, it's one I enjoy.

Because we do something remarkably similar throughout our own lives.

We change.

We adapt.

We become different versions of ourselves.

Yet when we look in the mirror, somehow we're still looking for the same person.

WHEN THE VIEWER BECOMES THE ARTWORK

This is where I think the piece becomes particularly interesting.

With a painting or print, there is usually a very clear distinction.

The artwork is there.

You are here.

With Hide in Plain Sight, that separation disappears.

Stand in front of it and your face, your clothes, the room behind you and everything surrounding you becomes temporarily incorporated into Magnus's composition.

Move away and the image changes again.

The artwork is never entirely static because the reflection is never entirely the same.

Different room.

Different light.

Different person.

Different moment.

Same artwork.

BEAUTY, CAMOUFLAGE AND PERCEPTION

There's another reason this feels completely at home within my Magnus collection.

So much of his work plays with the difference between what something appears to be and what it actually is.

Grenades become beautiful decorative objects.

Mortality is covered with flowers.

Classical imagery collides with contemporary culture.

Here, that idea becomes almost literal.

Patterns conceal other patterns.

Butterflies appear amongst darkness.

Your reflection disappears into the artwork.

You can be completely visible and somehow still hidden.

AN EDITION OF 25

The mirror was produced in a particularly small edition of just 25.

Each example measures 70 cm in diameter, is made from reverse-printed sterling silver glass and was produced in Italy. Magnus signs and numbers each work on the reverse.

Its scale is important too.

At 70 cm, this isn't a small decorative object.

It has genuine presence on the wall.

And unlike almost everything else in the collection, it doesn't require a frame.

The artwork is the object.

WHY IT BELONGS IN MY COLLECTION

When I started collecting Magnus, I was drawn towards the contrast within his imagery.

But as the collection has developed, I've increasingly enjoyed the pieces where he takes that idea beyond a conventional print.

Hide in Plain Sight does exactly that.

It's art.

It's design.

It's a mirror.

It's something you can walk past every day and see differently depending upon the light, the room — or perhaps simply how you're feeling at that particular moment.

And it connects beautifully with the philosophy behind my collection.

Life Through Another Person's Lens.

Except with this piece, something slightly unusual happens.

Magnus gives you his lens.

And then places your own reflection directly inside it.

Perhaps that's the cleverest part of Hide in Plain Sight.

You begin by looking at the artwork.

And eventually realise the artwork is looking straight back at you.

From The Allun Lewis Collection