From classic to queer
Queer. In a time when traditional gender identity is challenged and the masculine and feminine are performed and shifted between man and woman, it is worth taking a fresh look at JF Willumsen's norm-breaking, artistic work with the female model.
When the classic becomes queer
In studio drawings, portraits and figure paintings of an often active and strong female body, Willumsen examines and challenges the feminine. Sometimes as a motif, sometimes as a concept or as a driving force for the artistic process. From the early model studies at the Academy of Fine Arts to the caricatured portraits of the late years, the feminine mutates and transforms in the artist's line. At times classical, idealized and traditionally feminine. At other times searching and deviant with surprising overlap between male and female identity and expression.
Ahead of his time
Today, the term “queer” has become commonly used to describe anything that differs from the norm. The word originally means strange or queer. Previously, the word has been used derogatorily for that which appeared deviant in relation to current norms. – Especially in connection with sexual orientation. In Willumsen's female motifs, what can be called "queer" arises in the break with the gender roles practiced by his contemporaries. Willumsen – ahead of his time – never allowed himself to be bound by these gender roles. Instead, he challenged them in hybrid depictions of people with both masculine and feminine traits.
Willumsens in interaction with contemporary art
In contemporary art, gender and body identity are prominent topics that are treated differently than they were in Willumsen's time. The encounter between the works in the exhibition therefore provides an opportunity to see parallels across time. The exhibition provides an insight into an unreserved artistic process that deals with gender, sexuality and bodily expression in an investigative and open-minded manner. A process that is increasingly seen unfolding among people today.
The meeting between Willumsen's art and collage, photography, drawing and sculpture, and artworks from the 1960s to the present day highlights new aspects in Willumsen's well-known works such as The Great Relief og Diana is a hunter. At the same time, the comparison shows how art over the last almost 150 years reflects, but also creates, the images that define and challenge the cultural understanding of women and the feminine – from classic to queer.
Participating artists: JF Willumsen, AK Dolven, Ester Fleckner, Lea Guldditte Hestelund, Per Kirkeby, Lærke Posselt and Ugo Rondinone.
