Vaginal Davis, Magnificent Product, Moderna Museet, Accelerator, Index, and the National Museum of Sweden, Stockholm
In gorgeous Stockholm, I was blown away by Vaginal Davis’s raw and unapologetic works. The exhibition took me back to 2011, when I spent time at Freetown Christiania, diving into the archive of the Bøssernes Befrielsesfront (Gay Liberation Front) for their 40th anniversary. In Davis’s laid-back yet radical works, various communities and experiences blend into a decadent hyper-mix: the nightclub, punk, and gritty street life all combine with an unabashed flirtation with the outrageous and the gossipy, often presented through handheld cameras and theatrical sculptures in all the colours of lip gloss. And right there, in the midst of a Stockholm spring, I asked myself: When will these perspectives, stories, and experiences – of not just the well-connected hot boys, but also the naughty, the flamboyant, and those who left us far too soon – become an integrated part of Danish art history? Not just as a token box to check, but on equal terms. Who will take the first step?
Roni Horn, Louisiana, Humlebæk
If I could choose to be another artist, I would probably be Roni Horn. I almost fainted when I stood face to face with her work Pink Tons (2009) at Tate Modern in 2009. The glass works were also displayed at Louisiana’s summer exhibition alongside metal sculptures and various photo series, including the beautifully installed portraits of Isabelle Huppert. The entire exhibition was interspersed with various clips from film history and strove to create connections between the films and the artist’s work – an interesting addition for a Horn geek like me, though it hardly felt necessary. The parallel Horn exhibition Give Me Paradox or Give Me Death at Museum Ludwig in Cologne felt crisper and sharper in a German way, without any safety barriers around the works and the like. In one corner stood some sturdy aluminium and plastic sticks inscribed with Emily Dickinson quotes: MY HEART UPON A LITTLE PLATE. I’m still swooning.
Lenke Rothman, Life as Cloth, Malmö Konsthall, Malmö
“A slice of salami is lost off a sandwich in Central Park and gets tramped on so many times that its mirror image is worn into the asphalt – that spot of grease told me more about the dimensions of the city than the skyscrapers.” These words were written by Lenke Rothman in the book OK OK NO NEW YORK (1984) about her stay in New York in 1981. Rothman’s work also feels a bit like a slice of salami scraped across asphalt. Only the bare essence remains, but somehow the salami slice is still part of the whole – pars pro toto. Rothman’s work exudes an immense trust in the countless dialects of material. Material is material is material, und so weiter. Yet, Rothman’s works carry so much intimacy and history, beauty and pain.
– Jóhan Martin Christiansen is an artist, runs the Copenhagen exhibition venue Bonne Espérance, and serves on the board of Danish Visual Artists (BKF). Currently featured in the group exhibition Threads at Listasavn Føroya, Tórshavn, he is working on upcoming exhibitions at Spanien19C, Aarhus, and Alice Folker Gallery, Copenhagen.
For this year’s contributions to the Advent Calendar, see here
