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08 April 2011

Michael Johansson @ Den Frie Center of Contemporary Art, Copenhagen DK

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Opening: April 8th 2011, 5 p.m. – 8 p.m.

What happens when the functional design object meets art?
18 trend-setting international and national artists and designers will be presenting their perceptions on this question with the exhibition OVERLAP. The participating artists and designers share the desire to challenge and overstep each other’s artistic domains and experiment in a cross-over field where it is no longer possible or relevant to categorize and define the objects. Thus the exhibition presents artists whose works have a close connection to commercial mechanisms and designers who produce objects which are far from the saleable, iconic and functional object. Recognisable everyday objects lose their original function and sculptural and aesthetic qualities are added. There is a conceptual expansion of concepts in which humour, irony and play are elements that seem to characterize the works.

Experience how the Swedish artist Michael Johansson systemizes and organizes recognisable objects from our daily life and adapts them to the exhibition space in the form of colourful installation sculptures. The French designer Sebastian Wierinck builds an untamed bench made of drain pipes, and the Danish visual artist Michael Mørk has been invited to create a visual setting that connects the individual works to the building’s architecture, which will be a significant part of the exhibition’s complete expression.

One of Denmark’s very significant designers Louise Campbell, who has received the Finn Juhl Award and the Thorvald Bindesbøll Medal, will be showing an entirely new work created especially for the exhibition. The German artist Tobias Rehberger and the Spanish artist duo Bestué/Vives, all of whom participated in the Venice Biennial in 2009, will be contributing to the exhibition with works which have not been exhibited in Denmark before. The recognised designer Jürgen Bey, one of the first designers behind the ground-breaking Dutch design company Droog, will show two works at the exhibition. In addition the Danish visual artist FOS will be participating. He is especially known for introducing the concept Social Design and for art projects which often involve creating new social spaces through design, architecture and aesthetic events.

PARTICIPATING ARTISTS AND DESIGNERS:
Maarten Baas, Bestué / Vives, Studio Makkink & Bey, Louise Campbell, FOS, Martino Gamper, Niek van der Heijden, Michael Johansson, Krüger & Pardeller, Axel Lieber, Rita McBride, Tobias Rehberger, Karen Ryan, David Svensson, Usin-e: Amaury Poudray & Rémi Bouhaniche and Sebastien Wierinck.

CURATED  BY:
Visual artist Jørgen Carlo Larsen and designer Ditte Hammerstrøm.