Max Hojer Jacobsen

In the world of culture, you find great epic dramas which, in each their own way, tell us about immense emotion, about power, hatred and deceit and of love, lust and forgiveness.

And then there are the comedies. The comedies, which have always been used either as a tremendous slapstick theatre to ease the pressure in a stressful and, for some, very rough everyday life, or as emotionally more refined plays which make us laugh, but also call for our compassion. They do so because they hold up a mirror to us, showing us as people of flesh and blood with good and bad sides.

Max Hojer Jacobsen`s “tumbler” belongs in the latter category. And when I write “he”, I do so as the little plump bronze creature is undeniably a man with a very good eye for women and for a brew or a dram every now and then. He is certainly in a distinctly fine mood, so long as he has a bottle more or less firmly in-hand.

But do not be fooled by it. Max Hojer Jacobsen`s character is more multidimensional than that. Sure, he is happy, sometimes exuberant, as a father, as a friend, as an animal lover and as a spouse. He is also a dreamer with wanderlust. A dreamer who wants it all, who wishes to leave his mortal coil and fly up to the stars and fulfil his childlike desire for complete, limitless freedom.

At the same time, he is enough of a realist to acknowledge that is not always how it goes. If you have a heart, it can be crushed. If you take stock of life, and our hero often does, you will see that the sorrows follow the joys. One of the characters is titled “Life`s Great Balancing Act” and that hits the nail on the head. Both as an assertion of a common human condition and as a keyword in Max Hojer Jacobsen`s art. It is about finding that balance.

If, by nature, you are an optimist and focus on the positive aspects of life rather than the inevitable dark sides, and our man does that to boot, you will not only enjoy a better life. You will also be a better person to your friends and family and to everyone you come into contact with. That is why you laugh with, and not at, Max Hojer Jacobsen`s characters.

In his own quirky way, Max Hojer Jacobsen created a universe we can recognize, warm ourselves by, comfort ourselves with and smile about. It is a rather good job, actually!

Tom Jorgensen, art critic at Jyllands Posten and editor of Kunstavisen