CONVERSATIONS ABOUT FOG – art from the Faroe Islands in the 21st century
An array of artists and an equally diverse devil-may-care expressive joy flourishing in spite of raging pandemics, melting icebergs and other doom and gloom.
Exhibition 31 October 2020 — 25 July 2021*
*The exhibition and the house will reopen on May 13th
Floating droplets of water, light enough to circle around in the air without dropping as rain or snow. This is the prosaic, yet poetic definition of the meteorological phenomenon we call fog. It is hardly coincidental that there exist 37 different words in the Faroese language for fog – or that fog predominates when foreigners write about Faroese art.
Given that Conversations About Fog is far more about art in the Faroe Islands than about fog itself, we are zooming in through the ethereal haze and focusing on contemporary Faroese art, featuring a palpable and generous selection of works by: Rannva Kunoy, Hanni Bjartalíð, Hansina Iversen, Jóhan Martin Christiansen, Randi Samsonsen, Dennis Agerblad, Svend-Allan Sørensen, Alda Mohr Eyðunardóttir, Julie Sass and Steinprent, The Faroe Islands Graphic Workshop (Claus Carstensen, Ian McKeever, Mie Mørkeberg, Knud Odde, Bjarne Werner Sørensen, Torbjørn Olsen, Marius Olsen, Silja Strøm, Fríða Matras Brekku, Bjørn Nørgaard, John Kørner, Anna Seppälä, Zacharias Heinesen, Zven Balslev, Bárður Jákupsson, Tróndur Patursson, Øssur Johannesen, Bárður Oskarsson, Carl Jóhan Jensen, Peter Laugesen, Tóroddur Poulsen, Peter Carlsen, Anker Mortensen, Jonas Hvid Søndergaard, Erik Heide, Kathrine Ærtebjerg, Kirstine Roepstorff and Margrethe Odgaard).
This is a pretty large number of visual artists and their works cannot, and must not be defined by one common artistic objective. Indeed, not all the artists are even Faroese. But all of them have either worked or exhibited in the Faroe Islands and have thus become part of Faroese visual art scene.
Conversations About Fog spotlights dynamic, communicative processes rather than attempting to form a representative canonical view. Thereby, the exhibition circumvents several hierarchies, including the actual tradition of exhibitions of Faroese visual art in Denmark. It is an attempt to present Faroese visual art from within, without in any way attempting to give the impression that it is comprehensive. Instead, the exhibition features a diversity of expression in paintings, graphics, textiles and installations - a devil-may-care expressive joy, life and beauty that is flourishing in spite of raging pandemics, melting icebergs and other doom and gloom.
The exhibition is curated by Kinna Poulsen and supported by Danish Arts Foundation.
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