Bjarne Melgaard’s exhibition Lion Sluts embraces the profane, though it stands alone as a solo show. His paintings are created intuitively, channeling his innermost feelings. These paintings follow an arduous public court case, with the paintings providing a space for the artist to express his darker feelings and visualise the sense of chaos that has driven his legal battles. His subsequent debt is a recurring presence in these new works, as a mountain to be conquered or a frenetic mass of words that surround his main characters. His works are painted in vibrant strokes of colour, which could be read as either joyful orfrenzied. Cartoon figures are depicted in thick black lines, often taking the form of animals, which the artist sees as spiritual guides from his own imagination. Scratchy marks and dynamic loops of paint that cut through these, suggestive of a more immediate emotional release. These works reflect upon existential pain, drawing the viewer into an in-between space amongst Melgaard’s rich layers that variously promises solace, escape, or emancipation.