New contemporary art bigger than the contemporary
At the group exhibition Welcome Too Late, some of today’s leading international artists such as Marguerite Humeau, Katja Novitskova, Iain Ball and Parker Ito, are dealing with the challenges of portraying a contemporary that changes with explosive rate. The exhibition, which opens at Kunsthal Charlottenborg March 17, is presented in cooperation with CPH:DOX and is kurated by Toke Lykkeberg.
When everything from climate to technology is changing at increasing speed, it becomes more difficult to keep up. The future becomes present and the present becomes past at ever increasing speed. Artists and documentarists experiences being too late for the time they seek to capture.
Instead of running after time in an attempt to zoom in on the present moment, there is a tendency to zoom out on the outer and larger temporalities. This is the premise for the group exhibition Welcome Too Late, in the face of changes such as explosive population growth, rising temperatures and sea levels, artificial intelligence and growing inequality.
Based on the concept of “Extemporary Art” curator Toke Lykkeberg has selected a number of trendsetting artists who problematize the concepts of ‘contemporary’ and ‘contemporary art’ with works that shifts the focus from the moment to larger time perspectives.
The exhibition presents sculpture, installation and film by younger artists like Iain Ball (1985, UK), Marguerite Humeau (1986, FR), Katja Novitskova (1984, EE), Parker Ito (1986, US), along with slightly older exponents such as Anne De Vries (1977, NL), Tue Greenfort (1973, DK) and the pioneer Eduardo Terrazas (1936, MX).
The selected artists are thinking beyond our volatile contemporaries to understand the major developments which are rapidly changing the world. Marguerite Humeau is, for example, concerned with the research area ‘de-extinction’ that is about reliving extinct species, while Iain Ball confuses our perception of time with works that resembles fossils from the future.
Tue Greenforts works include ecology seen in a biological, economic and political perspective and Katja Novitskova examines how new media influence our perception of natural history. Eduardo Terrazas has in his longstanding practice worked with illustrating graphically and geometrically the rapid or so-called exponential growth.
Welcome Too Late is presented in collaboration with and opens March 17 at 6 pm – 10 pm, during the documentary film festival CPH:DOX.
In the period from March 16 – 26, Kunsthal Charlottenborg will transform into a festival palace and will function as headquarters for this year’s CPH:DOX. In addition to the exhibition, Kunsthal Charlottenborg will also host cinema, debates, concerts and virtual reality cinema during the festival. Read more about the CPH:DOX programme.
