Set aside
Photography by Mads Gamdrup and Erik Øckenholt
Mads Gamdrup and Erik Øckenholt exhibit new photographic works in the group exhibition Set aside at JF Willumsens Museum. For the newly created works, the two visual artists have found inspiration in JF Willumsen's interesting collection of photographic material, which he categorized and arranged in the so-called "clipping folders" according to themes such as mænd, Women, Human Racesog Water and land.
Mads Gamdrup's part of the project consists of 12 photographic works, which are based on Willumsen's photographic studies of movement and his integration of these studies into the color processing of the paintings. In the works, Gamdrup works with the relationship between physical form and the physiological effect of colors on the viewer.
The works are an extension of Gamdrup's latest project “Denmark under forvandling”, where he experimented with dissolving the landscape as a motif to let its colors draw the vibrating contours of the landscape's space. Gamdrup has taken as a starting point the themes of Land and Water, Architecture, Painting, Drawing, Sculpture and Children from Willumsen's scrapbooks.
Erik Øckenholt's contribution to the exhibition focuses on the special approach to artistic practice and the artist's understanding of the world around him, which is a fundamental tone in Willumsen's form of categorization and classification of the rich photographic material. Øckenholt's photographs consist of a frieze of 6 photos that relate to Willumsen's classification system. Øckenholt has taken as a starting point the themes Men, Crafts, People, Animals, Human Races and Kwinner.
The exhibition Set aside is a continuation of the many dialogue exhibitions that have been held at JF Willumsens Museum over the years, where contemporary artists have been inspired by parts of Willumsen's work. The previous dialogue exhibitions at the museum have drawn attention to aspects of Willumsen's production and artistic practice that art history has not previously included. This time, it is Willumsen's collection and systematization of photographs and clippings from period magazines that are in focus.
The exhibition is curated and staged by the artists themselves.
