Wilderness

April 18 - May 23, 2015

Sidsel Christensen
Lucy Clout
Jesse Darling & Takeshi Shiomitsu
Noémie Goudal
Anne Haaning
Nicolai Howalt
Jesper Just
Absalon Kirkeby
Tove Kommedal
Kristin Luke
Dorine van Meel
Eoghan Ryan
Søren Thilo Funder
Wendy Plovmand
Ebbe Stub Wittrup

Curated by
Anne Haaning and Wendy Plovmand

Opening: April 17, 17:00 – 20:00

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The exhibition Wilderness seeks to reconsider the classic concept of wilderness as received according to 19th century notions of ‘nature’. What is it, exactly, that we search for in our desire for wilderness — where and how do we gain access to the untouched, the mysterious, the unruly, the chaotic and the fantasy of independence in contemporary society?

The idea is to explore Wilderness both by revisiting the natural phenomenon in a nostalgic and romantic sense and by extending the concept to include the contemporary setting of an entropically evolved, human-made world. Aware that Wilderness is a cultural construction, tied to perception of place, system, structure, civilisation and state, we propose various sites for wilderness in a contemporary world – psychological, philosophical, therapeutical, political, social, digital and anarchic sites of wilderness, for example.

The show investigates a contemporary phenomenon of Wilderness that might signify release from the normative and ‘civilized’ – when exploring untamed nature or the troubled unconscious, when transcending consciousness altogether or in interactions with the endless possibilities arising from social networks, notably editing and sharing in a digital context.

Wilderness will also influence the architecture of the exhibition space itself, which will undergo new modifications.

Wendy Plovmand and Anne Haaning both trained as artists in London at Byam Shaw / Central Saint Martins and Goldsmiths University of London respectively. Their collaboration is based on a common ambition to create mutual exchange between the Danish and British art scene and to examine and renew the encounter between art and audience.

The exhibition is kindly supported by: The Danish Art Council, Bikubenfonden, City of Copenhagen, Knud Højgaard Foundation, Tuborg Foundation and Carlsberg.