Scandinavian Collaboration: CHART Fair Opens in Copenhagen
This weekend, the city of Copenhagen will launch the second coming of Denmark鈥檚 latest art fair, CHART, which will take over the beautiful Kunsthal Charlottenborg. Unlike other art fairs, CHART mirrors Denmark鈥檚 socialist political culture, aiming to present art work in a collaborative and cooperative forum. Sponsored by Danske Bank with media partner ArtReview, the fair unifies twenty-seven carefully selected galleries from the Nordic region.
Lori Zimmer / 黑料不打烊
Aug 20, 2014
Kunsthal Charlottenborg Courtyard. Courtesy of CHART.
This weekend, the city of Copenhagen will launch the second coming of Denmark’s latest art fair, CHART, which will take over the beautiful Kunsthal Charlottenborg. Unlike other art fairs, CHART mirrors Denmark’s socialist political culture, aiming to present art work in a collaborative and cooperative forum. Sponsored by Danske Bank with media partner ArtReview, the fair unifies twenty-seven carefully selected galleries from the Nordic region. Focusing entirely on contemporary art, CHART presents its unique take on the art fair model from August 29th to August 31st.
CHART is the brainchild of five Copenhagen-based galleries; Galleri Susanne Ottesen, Galleri Bo Bjerggaard, V1 Gallery, Andersen’s Contemporary and David Risley Gallery, who banded together to create an unpretentious platform to professionally showcase the finest Nordic-region galleries. Last year, the team came up with the premise of the collaborative art fair as a way to strengthen Scandinavia’s place in the international art market, using it as a foothold to put the region’s cutting edge galleries into the international forefront. Rather than a competitive atmosphere with each booth trying to outsell the next, CHART encourages the group endeavor. The fair operates on the spirit of traditional Scandinavian collaboration, with the participating galleries working together towards the common goal of a successful presentation, including an innovative program of talks and special exhibitions.
Kunsthal Charlottenborg Courtyard. Courtesy of CHART.
To differentiate its presentation from the endless art fairs of the world, CHART has first focused on the host venue. Rather than an exhibition hall or pop-up tent akin to a trade show, the fair takes place at the gorgeous Baroque Charlottenborg Palace, creating an atmosphere that meshes commercial concerns with a landmark of historic and cultural significance. Built in 1754, the architectural gem’s courtyard serves as the venue for CHART’s lavish opening party, as well as a venue for the fair’s Special Projects, which include indoor and outdoor works. Furthering the collaborative tone, the opening party is not only for VIPs, but welcomes everyone to enjoy live music under the stars, as well as a pop-up street kitchen with innovative food stalls from six of Copenhagen’s top restaurants.
The courtyard will not just serve as a venue for the party, but will act as the nerve center of the fair. With the galleries indoors, the outdoor space will add breadth to the fair, offering a combination of food, music and design. Seven teams of young architects were invited to design the outdoor pavilions for CHART’s food and media partners, in a competition bolstering Nordic design and judged by Dorte Foos, BIG Architecture’s Bjark Ingels, and artist Jeppe Hein.
Inside the fair. Courtesy of CHART.
Inside the fair, galleries invited from Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark will present paintings, drawings, sculptures, installations, prints, photography and video art from their prospective rosters, including site-specific works commissioned for the fair. Stockholm’s Galleri Magnus Karlsson will feature the work of Helene Billgren, one of Sweden’s most recognized artists. The painter, whose pieces are often described as mysterious and enchanted, has recently explored combining her classic paintings with printmaking. Yet Untitled is a new piece that showcases her new working technique, combining pulled silkscreen with hand-drawn charcoal and textile embellishments. Also featured is one of Petra Lindholm’s light box installations, entitled Empty Vessels. The silhouettes of four shadowy figures can be seen around a warm light source, creating a gray scale image inspired by vintage negatives given to the artist by her grandfather.
Helene Billgren, Yet Untitled, 2014. Courtesy of Galleri Magnus Karlsson.
Petra Lindholm, Empty Vessels, 2014. Courtesy of Galleri Magnus Karlsson.
Turner prize winner Keith Tyson will be shown by CHART-founder David Risley Gallery. In conjunction with his solo exhibition A Mystery to Itself that opens at the brick-and-mortar gallery on August 29th, one of Tyson’s Unnatural Portraits will be shown alongside nine other represented artists. The artist’s iconic series relies on chance, using pigment and chemicals subjected to gravity, heat and reactions to create otherworldly portraits. Two works by YBA shock-artists the Chapman Brothers (Jake & Dinos) will also be on display, in anticipation of their exhibition that opens at David Risley in October.
Keith Tyson, Unnatural Portrait, 2014. Courtesy of David Risely Gallery.
鈥�Jake & Dinos Chapman, Etchasketchathon 1 (No. 29), 2005. Courtesy of David Risely Gallery.
Oslo's VI, VII Gallery has curated a show by artist collective Jochen Schmith, whose members work between the cities of Brussels, Hamburg and Berlin. Ranging from objects, to paintings to screen prints, the in-fair exhibition features a piece from the collective’s acclaimed series Cigar Ends- Collectors’ Waste, made from bronze-cast cigar ends stolen from VIP areas at art fairs. The piece takes literal trash associated with status in the art world, and returns it, this time to the market itself. Another piece, The Fraud, also echoes the collective’s disdain with status, representing an invisible status symbol – the designer scent.
Jochen Schmith, Cigar Ends- Collectors’ Waste, 2010. Courtesy of VI, VII.
Jochen Schmith, The Fraud, 2012. Courtesy of VI, VII.
Another gallery featuring multiple works by one artist is Stockholm’s Galleri Andersson/Sandstrom, who is presenting a multi-media show by Antony Gormley. A collection of geometrical sculptures by the British artist are joined by a collection of works on paper that may seem unfamiliar to Gormley’s general public. Layers of translucent geometric shapes made from graphic and casein show a softer side of Gormley’s oeuvre.
Antony Gormley, SMALL FORM III, 2014. Courtesy of Galleri Andersson/Sandstrom.
Antony Gormley, MATRIX V, 2014. Courtesy of Galleri Andersson/Sandstrom.
An eclectic body of work by Olafur Eliasson will be shown by i8 Gallery from Reykjavik. The booth will center around one of Eliasson’s classic steel and mirrored hanging sculptures, Square Sphere. The delicate Multiverse 3, a geometric hanging sculpture of wire and magnets flank a series of framed works based on historic maps of Iceland.
Olafur Eliasson, Square Sphere, 2007. Courtesy of i8 Gallery.
Olafur Eliasson, Multiverse 3, 2013. Courtesy of i8 Gallery.
CHART's Talks Program is limited, but makes up with quality. Held at The Danish National Art Library, the talks are free and open to the public, and will include lectures by Elmgreen & Dragset on their forthcoming exhibition, John K酶rner and Keith Tyson on being a contemporary artist, and an international panel of institutional leaders on the ups and downs of The Biennial. Talks are coupled with on-site performances, including Sophie Dupont, Dorit Chrysler, Matthew Stone, Rahman Hak-Hagir & Asad Khan and Lilibeth Cuenca-Rasmussen.
After a successful inaugural year in 2013, CHART’s second rendition has promised to be a feast for the senses; combining contemporary art, exquisite food and top- notch performances that celebrate the Nordic vision in the contemporary art market.
