Mind Your Absence

In Mind Your Absence, three young artists explore the subject of letting go, daring to do it differently and putting up a fight. The exhibition explores those barriers that we sometimes create, when we try to get closer, whether they be sexual, emotional, or today even media driven.

Because in a time of high paced and all-encompassing input, whether through mass media, popular culture, or advertising, being present no longer necessarily means being attentive or available. And despite being more connected than ever, the fear of losing our con-nection with time and space, the people around us or ourselves, is still prevalent today. In this exhibition, we all take the main stage with both our presence and absence.

For the first time in Denmark, Arden Asbæk Gallery presents Dutch painter Sam Andrea. The young artist’s work contains both violence and romanticism, melancholia, and tense drama, and in that sense, Andrea explores our uncanny, self-destructive side.
His works and their depiction of our most primal instincts are both frightening and exciting and stand as one big f*ck you to all that is staged or polished, gentrified and domesticated.

Danish visual artist Ditte Johanne Krogh Bertelsen occupies the floor with three old tv-screens. In her video works, Bertelsen explores and occupies the physical space on an abandoned building site, while also exploring what lies beneath the surface. Bertelsen works with the translation of physical sensations and inner mental states using her own body in various settings. The composition of the screens contributes to the narrative of the work, making both the creation and presentation an intuitive process.

Alongside, Bertelsen and Andrea, Vilmer Engelbrecht Schultz presents his anachronistic paintings, which borrow their form and styles from various parts of both art history and mythology, while also containing autobio-graphical elements. In his work, time and space dissolves, creating visual tales that are both universal and personal, recognizable and never before seen, through archetypical themes and characters, whether they be monsters or unrequited love.

Photo: David Stjernholm

Works on display:

Video

Still from ‘Untitled 25’, video 2021
length: 05.53 min.

Still from ‘Untitled 26’, video 2021
Length: 01.44 min.

Still from ‘Untitled 27’, video 2021
Length: 04.39 min.

Performance

In connection with the exhibition, Mind Your Absence, we are proud to present a performance by video and performance artist Ditte Johanne Krogh Bertelsen (DK), who currently is exhibiting alongside Sam Andrea (NL) and Vilmer Engelbrecht Schultz (DK) at Arden Asbæk Gallery. In her performance at Kulturnatten 2021, Bertelsen will gradually transform and shape her body into a tableau in the exhibition, using playdough. This playful choice of material explores both the body and the physical space together with the audience, who is invited to come closer.

The performance starts at 20:30 and lasts for approximately an hour, but you can stay for however long you like - whether that is 5 or 50 minutes. It is free to visit the exhibition and performance, but please note that due to the size of the project space, waiting time may occur.

Materials:
80 kg of play dough, body and space.

Photography

‘Untitled 28’, photography 2021, 32 x 42,5 cm, archival pigment print
Edition of 7 + 2AP

‘Untitled 29’, photography 2021, 32 x 42,5 cm, archival pigment print
Edition of 7 + 2AP

‘Untitled 30’, photography 2021, 32 x 42,5 cm, archival pigment print
Edition of 7 + 2AP

‘Untitled 31’, photography 2021, 32 x 42,5 cm, archival pigment print
Edition of 7 + 2AP

‘Untitled 32’, photography 2021, 32 x 42,5 cm, archival pigment print
Edition of 7 + 2AP