EXHIBITION 'GLANCE'
The exhibition consisted of works of eight well-known Danish contemporary artists. The curator, Emilia Wedrowska, is known for dissemination of Polish contemporary art in Denmark. She is the owner of Galerie Brantebjerg in the Northern Sealand, where she presents works of Danish and Polish artists. The artists taking part in the exhibition "Glance" had also exhibited in the gallery. Their works reflect various artistic visions; they constitute a picture of a slice of contemporary artistic life in Denmark.
The exhibition was shown in 2000 at the Culture Centre Zamek in Poznan and at The National Library in Warsaw. Paintings by the following artists were presented an the exhibition: Doris Bloom, Henrik Have, Lise Malinovsky, Bentemarie Kjeldbek, Anne Tholstrup, Anne Vilsböll, Niels Erik Gjerdevik, and sculptures by Pontus Kjerman. Pontus Kjerman, born in Sweden, visited Poznan and, together with the photographer Tove Kurtzweil, had a meeting with the visitors, where he told about his life and work in a foreign country. He was not the only non-Danish artist participating in the exhibition: Nils Erik Gjerdevik is a Norwegian, Doris Bloom was born in South Africa. Those facts also show the richness of artistic life in Denmark.
This is what an outstanding Danish art critic, Peter Michael Hornung, wrote in the catalogue: "In the 60-ties studies at the Danish Academy of Art were very much determined by the Danish tradition and were very conservative in comparison with more and more experimental activities within artistic life. Many artists were looking for art that could break the existing schemes. Big changes were made in the 70-ies and 80-ies, when the old professors retired in favour of young graduates, former critics of the Academy. Today the Academy has adapted to the present requirements, so that it can be perceived as avantgarde. The professors are contracted for only one year in order to make the teaching most up-to-date and to adjust it to the changeable conditions of the times we are living in. Therefore the word "pluralism" has become one of the basic items of contemporary Danish art, which is confirmed by the works presented at the exhibition Glance". This is the way P.M.Hornung characterized the artists: Henrik Have, who is also a poet, shows in his painting a literary and conceptual approach to art. In his works he very often presents the human body and refers to philosophy and culture. Doris Bloom's ideology originates from South Africa, the country of racial discrimination and political and social problems from before Mandela's coming to power. Her paintings provoke political discussion which is a very rare phenomenon in Danish art. The artistic youth of Lise Malinovsky is connected with textiles. Her own experiences as well as fascinations with painting make her textile-like and strong-coloured works be a contemporary version of figurative expressionism. Bentemarie Kjeldbæk looks for inspirations outside Denmark, especially in crowded places like a market in Barcelona. Anne Tholstrup derives her art from French post-war modernism. In her still lifes she shows lyrical abstraction. Through classical restraint in e.g. the choice of colours, her work recalls the Parisian School. Anne Vilsbøll has got acquainted with methods of paper production worldwide. The aesthetics typical for her art results from her knowledge of the different structures of materials and her ability to feel that difference. It is this knowledge that provides the basis of her play with space. Nils Erik Gjerdevik's art has evolved from abstract expressionism to cool and chromatic painting that goes back to constructivism. The artist tries to prove that a style is nothing absolute and clear nowadays, but only a relative and time-limited way of expression. Pontus Kjerman loves Chinese and Egyptian art, which fact can be seen in his sculptures bearing signs of fairy-tale and metaphysics."
