Life is fragile. It starts in a flash and can end just as quickly. Our planet miraculously spins in just the right spot to sustain life in an infinite universal void, but despite this blessing, it is under constant attack and threat by its most advanced inhabitants– ourselves. It can easily feel like too much, but ironically, as soon as we acknowledge this deeply precarious situation in our minds, we let it go in favor of happier distractions.

Rasmus Eckhardt’s paintings beckon us to put down our phones and start engaging with life and the natural world around us. Created with soft pastels on wood, Eckhardt’s images are almost always dreamlike and atmospheric. The figures he portrays are softened to the point of becoming one with their surroundings, both while in action and at rest, inferring an innate tie and dependence to their environment. The protagonists, who intentionally lack any identifying traits such as eyes or mouths, represent all of us. They seem to live, breathe and melt into beautiful landscapes while becoming one with the world. There is an acute awareness of the fragile moment that they occupy, but they are also blissfully lost to the beauty of it all.

Intriguingly, Eckhardt further masks any sense of individual identity for his human figures by placing safari hats on them as they perform leisurely activities such as bike riding, rowing boats, and meditating in fields. It is a simple device that places the concept of vacation and relaxation at the forefront of his works, but these adornments also provide a premonition to a completely new series of works debuting in this exhibition. In these paintings, wild animals such as lions and peacocks lurk in front of abandoned storefronts, bars and theaters. No human figures are present in these scenes, and the animals seem completely unaware of how incongruous their presence is within these spaces. Is this a candid look at a time after humanity? Or are we simply being told the obvious, that we are in fact animals and simply following our instincts, for better or worse.

While Rasmus Eckhardt (b. 1982, Copenhagen) has exhibited widely in Europe, this exhibition is the first-ever solo presentation in the United States.