Foto
dal 19/9/2006 al 10/11/2006
Segnalato da
19/9/2006
Foto
Scandinavia House, New York
New Photography from Denmark
New Photography from Denmark
Nanna Bisp-Buchert | Henrik Brahe | Krass Clement | Tina Enghoff | Torben Eskerod |
Charlotte C. Haslund-Christensen | Keld Helmer-Petersen | Nicolai Howalt | Per Bak
Jensen | Adam Jeppesen | Fie Johansen | Camilla Holmgren | Kirsten Klein | Tove
Kurtzweil | Finn Larsen | Steen Larsen | Mads Ljungdahl | Soren Lose | Hans E.
Madsen | Hans Manner-Jakobsen | Inger Lise Rasmussen | Henrik Saxgren | Lars
Schwander | Erik Steffensen | Trine Sondergaard | Susanne Wellm | and Ebbe Stub
Wittrup
This exhibition provides a glimpse of the rich diversity of subjects, styles, and
techniques explored by photographers in Denmark today. Comprising 92 images by 27
artists demonstrating the depth and vitality of Denmark's thriving contemporary
photography scene, it includes influential pioneers in the relatively short history
of Danish photography as well as representatives of the new generation. Rather than
seeking to define a "Danish School" of photography, this exhibition challenges the
concept of a Danish or Nordic style by examining the fertile international exchange
of ideas and influences that characterizes a discipline in the midst of a technical
revolution.
Foto: New Photography from Denmark is organized by the Faulconer Gallery at Grinnell
College in Grinnell, Iowa and is curated by Daniel Strong and designed by Milton
Severe. The first major survey of contemporary Danish photography in the United
States, the exhibition was first presented in 2005 at the Faulconer Gallery as
Scandinavian Photography 2: Denmark.
Edward P. Gallagher, President of The American-Scandinavian Foundation (ASF), says,
"The ASF has been strongly committed to presenting new work by Scandinavian artists
and has been involved in all four of the major exhibitions of contemporary Nordic
photography shown in the U.S. Foto: New Photography from Denmark demonstrates the
ASF's commitment to showcasing the broad range of Scandinavian art."
In general, photography is less accepted as an art form in Denmark than it is in
other European countries, and there are fewer outlets for exhibiting it. But the
relative lack of support for photography has not diminished the number of artists
working in the medium or their passion for it, as curator Daniel Strong discovered
on his visits to the country over the past two years. Visitors to the exhibition
will see a great deal of experimentation with technique, both in the darkroom and
with digital forms of manipulation and printing. "The medium of photography is in
the midst of a technical revolution that no photographer can ignore," Strong says.
"That is why now is the perfect moment to look at photographs produced by artists
whose careers bridge the late 20th and early 21st centuries."
Foto: New Photography from Denmark includes works in various genres-landscape,
portrait, street and studio photography-by artists ranging in age from 27 to 85,
many of whom have not exhibited previously in this country. While Kirsten Klein
explores the conventions of landscape photography, Camilla Holmgren's female nudes
in confined spaces challenge notions of intimacy, exoticism, and desire. Some of the
other artists interrogate the "rules" of documentary photography or revisit old
negatives with new techniques.
Many of the artists in the exhibition are well-traveled and work under a variety of
influences not limited by national borders. The oldest artist in the exhibition,
Keld Helmer-Petersen, studied photography in Chicago in the 1940s and was one of the
first to introduce Denmark to the qualities of abstract art and design that he had
found in photography on this side of the Atlantic. He is also known as a pioneer in
the use of color photography.
Publication
A 206-page catalogue with essays by Ingrid Fischer Jonge, Lars Schwander, Tove
Thage, and Finn Thrane accompanies the exhibition.
Support
This exhibition has been made possible in part by generous support from The
Honorable Edward E. Elson & Mrs. Susie Elson, Flemming & Judy Heilmann, the John L.
Loeb, Jr. Foundation, The Honorable Stuart A. Bernstein, and Andrew & Mary Whist.
Additional support has been provided by the BG Fund, Denmark.
Gallery talks: Thursday, September 21, Tuesday, October 17, and Tuesday, November 7,
1:00 p.m. Free with gallery admission.
Related Programs:
The Invisible & the Ordinary: Contemporary Danish Photography
Tuesday, October 10, 6:30 p.m. $10 ($8 ASF members, free for students)
Ingrid Fischer Jonge, Director of the National Museum of Photography and Head of
Cultural Activities at the Royal Library in Copenhagen, Denmark, will discuss
contemporary photography in Denmark.
Scandinavia House: The Nordic Center in America
58 Park Avenue (between 37th and 38th Streets) - New York
Gallery hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 12:00-6:00 p.m.
Gallery admission: $3 ($2 students & seniors 65+)