The exhibition u-turn is notable for its scope, and for the fact that its simply not the kind of exhibition that makes it's way to Copenhagen often enough. It's really more of a typically London or Berlin kind of exhibition. It's by no means mind-blowingly original or anything like that, but it's amusing - and it would be great to see more exhibitions closer to this scale in Copenhagen. Personally, I haven't had a chance to fully explore many of the associated events, of which there are many throughout the month, but I did get out to one of the main parts of it, that being the one out at Carlsberg in Vesterbro/Valby, which was quite amusing and perfectly located in an big old (and now unused) warehouse/manufacturing room. A great way to spend an hour or two on a Sunday.
And of course the ever-reliable Louisiana has done it again with a fantastic retrospective of Danish artist Per Kirkeby's work. Watch the video in which the curator of the exhibitions talks to Per Kirkeby about some of the paintings to gain a pleasantly insightful peek into the mind of this well-known Danish artist, one who has put a lot more thought and feeling into his scratchy, abstract and colourful works then first meets the eye.
...and if nothing else, enjoy the inevitably peaceful setting of the almost always compelling museum, overlooking the Øresund Sea. And it's so much easier to get out there for a visit now that Louisiania is now open until late every weekday evening.
Big, golden, kitsch and fake - the perfect welcome to a contemporary China exhibition.
Having lived for a little over a year in China, in Shanghai from late 2005 to late 2006, I was more then a little keen to check out the Made in China exhibition at the always fantastic Louisiania to see how it stood alongside my memories of the place.
If you want to know more about this experience, check outFor more on the experience of living in China, take a look at The Shanghai Shakedown, my Shanghai (and elsewhere around China) blog from last year. If you want my take on the political situation in China, always a popular issue, you could read this article about Democracy in China.
In my view, Denmark and China are actually an amusing study in contrasts, as the aspects of business and industry that drive Danish society - design, organisation, trustworthiness and innovation - are the sort of buzzwords that I would never ever ever use to describe China. Which means Danish companies have skill very useful to Chinese ones (and indeed plenty of them in Denmark are realising this and taking advantage of it).
To the images.
Here we have one of the classic images of China - the Yellow Mountains located near Huanshan, found on many a cheap Chinese restaurant wall the world over...and an image certainly mercifully not found anywhere in Louisiana's Made in China exhibition.
This one below was, however. Yes, look closely and you will realise that these indeed are real live (hairy) photographed asses from China...and, of course, not the Yellow Mountains.
Shanghai in a suitcase I found rather amusing and clever - from the Jin Mao tower to the Hangpu River and the Pearl Tower. Of course, even contemporary art can't keep pace with the frantic pace of change in China - the new Shanghai World Financial Centre, which has now surpassed the Jin Mao tower as the tallest building in Shanghai (and one of the tallest buildings in the world) does not appear.
Below - the symbol for 'demolision' - found on many a soon to be demolished areas around Beijing, Shanghai and countless other cities around China.
This pooch probably ate some of that Chinese dog food full of grade F meat...
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