ArtReview sent a questionnaire to artists and curators exhibiting in and curating the various national pavilions of the 2022 Venice Biennale, the responses to which will be published daily in the leadup to and during the Venice Biennale, which runs from 23 April to 27 November.
Uffe Isolotto is representing Denmark; the pavilion is in the Giardini.
ArtReview What can you tell us about your exhibition plans for Venice?
Uffe Isolotto The exhibition is titled We Walked the Earth. I transformed the entire pavilion into an apparent idyllic Danish farmhouse, but once you enter the setting you encounter a haunting drama of life and death personified by a hyperrealistic family of centaurs. There is a deep uncertainty in understanding what has happened to the centaurs and the world they live in. Is it a tragic situation or is it hopeful, or perhaps both? Even though the centaurs might not be real, we feel the centaurs’ struggle. The present time we live in is becoming increasingly complex and unpredictable as we face a lot of challenging realities, be it ecological, political or existential. There’s much hope and despair in the air, and I want to make that a physical reality with this installation.
AR Why is the Venice Biennale still important?
UI It’s important because you get to see works by artists in the national pavilions, which you would not see in any other place. At least not on the same scale and with that kind of attention around it. Everybody wants to go to Venice, because it’s this fantastic backdrop for anything. If you let your guard down – which means keeping your phone in your pocket – you can end up getting lost in the streets and back alleys. I think this kind of bewildering state is akin to experiencing art. You have to let go to be open to whatever is coming your way and to appreciate it. In that sense, I think that the city of Venice is a great setting for experiencing art. But be sure to visit Venice off season when there’s a chance that you’ll find yourself alone in a maze of alleys and bridges.
AR Do you think there is such a thing as national art? Or is all art universal? What is misunderstood or forgotten about your country’s art history or artistic traditions?
UI I would say both. I think that there is such a thing as national art, because those in power decide what kinds of artistic production to support, and that will have an effect on what is produced. When it comes to different kinds of artistic processes, there are many roads to travel, but in the end I think that creativity is universal and transcends time. This is why we have art history and museums, so we won’t forget that we don’t change that much. We just think we do.
AR Which other artists from your country have influenced or inspired you?
UI I founded and co-directed a couple of artist-run exhibition spaces in Copenhagen, so since I was a student I had a sense of unity between artists, but mostly artists from the same generation. To this day, I am inspired or influenced by many contemporaries. It’s an ongoing conversation that never seems to get dull. A couple of long gone Danish artists who inspired and amazed me are the painter and sculptor J. F. Willumsen (1863–1958) and sculptor Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen (1863–1945).
J. F. Willumsen because he went boldly where no other artists went and he created some intense and unconventional and sometimes mythological images. His Venice paintings are fantastic, and even though everything is dramatically exaggerated and surreal, they are closer to the feeling of being there than you would think.
Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen grew up on a farm and she started sculpting the animals she saw in clay or butter when she was a child. You can sense the skeleton beneath the skin and I find her closeness to her non-human subject inspiring. During art school, and the making of this project for Venice, I worked in the studio where she lived and worked for 30 years. A place where she also made the huge equestrian statue of King Christian IX. I feel that We Walked the Earth is my equestrian statue.
AR How does having a pavilion in Venice make a difference to the art scene in your country?
UI Denmark has been part of the Venice Biennale since its conception, so there is a long history of great artists who have exhibited here. I regard it as both extraordinary and an absolute honour to show my work in this context. Usually, the opportunity is given to artists who have already made a name for themselves internationally. For this Venice Biennale, The Danish Arts Foundation decided to do an open call and see what unfolded. A lot of artists sent in proposals, and from what I understand, there’s enough to make the Pavilion of Denmark’s wheels go around for some years. My appointment has spurred much support from the local artist community, which I’m really happy to have experienced as part of this process. I think that some artists could relate to the Venice Biennale for the first time – [the concept] was more approachable as it could as well have been one of them exhibiting.
AR If you’ve been to the biennale before, what’s your earliest or best memory from Venice?
UI That’s an easy one – life. In 2005 I went to Venice to see the biennale for the first time with my wife. After a couple of days we learned that she was expecting our first child, and the focus instantly shifted. I can’t remember much from the biennale itself, I just remember walking in a haze. Maybe, and just barely, I can make out a thin, horizontal line of light in a dark space on an island*. This year our son will turn sixteen a couple of days after the opening of my show. There’s a satisfying sense of completion to this project on so many levels and this is just one of them.
AR What else are you looking forward to seeing?
UI I am looking forward to seeing the main exhibition, curated by Cecilia Alemani. The curatorial theme is uncannily close to both the themes and figurations of my installation. I’m really excited to see what it will look like. Among the dead artists in the show, I’m particularly looking forward to seeing Unica Zürn, Tetsumi Kudo and the Danish outsider artist Ovartaci being represented. Among the contemporary artists in the main exhibition I have a liking for the works of Marguerite Humeau, Giulia Cenci, Sidsel Meineche Hansen and Dora Budor.
And then I want to go to see some more of the lagoon. Get a sense of the setting that defines Venice, which in turn defines the biennale and ultimately my own work.
*Olafur Eliasson’s work Your black horizon (2005)
