Christian John Munks (b. 1985, Copenhagen; DK) is a painter living and working in Copenagen, Denmark. Exploring themes such as masculinity, voyeurism, isolation, nostalgia, resignation and anxiety, Munks’ psychologically charged compositions present figures in states of temporary repose.
Combining references to home videos, dreams, family photos, youth documentaries from the 1980s and physical models (frequently his own reflection), Munks’ composite figures blend elements of personal experience with recorded images of a pre-digital past.
Munks works with a slow process of construction, erasure and reconstruction, one that deliberately resists the acceleratory tendencies of new technology. Focusing on tactile surfaces and often prominently depicting thick fabrics in his work, Munks emphasises that the ghosts which hide in the underlying layers of a painting (pentimento) are equally important as the final visible surface.