Thjerza Balaj, Umberto Boccioni, Marc Camille Chaimowicz, Jessica Ekomane, Jana Euler, FOS, Sidsel Meineche Hansen, Frieda Toranzo Jaeger, Miriam Kongstad, Ville Laurinkosko, Camilla Lind, Asta Lynge, Diego Marcon, Simon Dybbroe Møller, Sandra Mujinga, Pamela Rosenkranz, Eve Stainton, Leonie Strecker, Alexander Tillegren
The exhibition Artificial Optimism revisits Italian Futurism and examines Futurist ideas, exploring their relevance today. In 1912, the Futurist group exhibited at Den Frie Udstillingsbygning, thereby introducing this new, anarchist movement to Danish audiences. In the decade that followed, Futurism rapidly expanded its reach from the realms of literature, painting and sculpture to also include theatre, photography, music, architecture, scenography, design and politics. The intention was to reinvent not only the various media of art but all aspects of life, echoing and actively interacting with the dizzying transformations and new technologies of the modern age. The exhibition explores the intense experience of standing on the edge of a potential change that may transform everything. The exhibition title quotes F.T. Marinetti, aptly reflecting the Futurists’ ambivalent vision of the future.
Artificial Optimism is part of an ongoing exhibition series, in which we revisit past moments in the exhibition history of Den Frie and reflect on art avant-gardes of the past and their relevance today. The endeavour takes a non-linear approach to the past examining how artistic practices undertaken at different times can be motivated by the same impulses, albeit from very different starting points and with different consequences. In this exhibition, we use Futurism as a prism for looking at contemporary art with fresh eyes – and concurrently with this, use contemporary works to think about what ‘futurism’ means today.
Artificial Optimism is curated by Magnus Thorø Clausen.
The exhibition is generously supported by:
The Augustinus Foundation, Beckett-Fonden, Danish Arts Foundation, Dansk Tennis Fond, Kvadrat, Det Obelske Familiefond, New Carlsberg Foundation, Aage og Johanne Louis-Hansens Fond, 15. Juni Fonden.
Performance program:
During the course of the exhibition we present a program of performances and concerts by some of the participating artists. Performance was central to the futurist movement and the program is inspired by the evenings and afternoons that the futurists held between 1909 and 1914, staging readings, sound art, happenings, etc. The exhibition’s performance program has been developed under the auspices of Toaster, a collaboration between Husets Teater and Den Frie. Toaster is a performance platform for the intersections between theater and visual art.
05.09. 2024
Alexander Tillegreen – Grenzfrequenz, 2024 – Fluktuierendes Geflüster, 2023-24 – Phantom Streams, 2020-ongoing
Leonie Strecker – Point of Passage (Terminal), 2024, Performance
19.09. 2024
Eve Stainton – The Joystick and The Reins, 2024
Camilla Lind – MELODRAMA, 2024
10.10. 2024
Jessica Ekomane – TBA
Ville Laurinkoski – FIN DE SECTION, Changes, 2024
24. 10. 2024
Miriam Kongstad – HARD PLAY, 2024
Thjerza Balaj – ANTAGONIST, 2024
