THOMAS DAUSELL - 1023 FROM DOUBLE A
NOVEMBER 4 - DECEMBER 22 2017
For several years, visual artist Thomas Dausell has frequented Aalborg to portrait different people he meets on the street in the city center. His work has grown to more than a thousand hand-drawn portraits, which we now bring together in a comprehensive total installation, that democratically, literally and conceptually puts a face on the city and its citizens.
With 1023 FROM DOUBLE A, more than 1% of Aalborg's citizens can meet their own portrait in Kunsthal NORD, and the chance to view the portrait of a friend or family member is even greater. If one is lucky to find oneself among the chosen, one might simultaneously feel as both a special individual and as part of a unique, coherent context.
SoMe - SeeMe
In our eternal self-production and pursuit of individual identity, portraits and self-portraits have more than ever become ubiquitous in our everyday lives. In a matter of a few seconds, you can take a selfie or a photograph of friends and distribute it across the global social media. The portrait and not least its quality and significance are undergoing rapid change.
From an art historical perspective, the portrait has had a variety of designs, but from faith, king and country, we especially know the representative portrait. From contemporary art, we get to know the more personal and private portrait that expresses a search for identity, an inner split or frustration by the artist.
The collective mass
The over 1000 portraits from Aalborg will neither be deeply personal or representative, but rather, snapshots of a given face at a given time. All portraits have been executed in black tick and pen on a white background. They are without well-known symbols that deal with gender, titles, and status which traditionally relate to the portrait - both in art history and in the social media.
The core of the artistic project is to find, unite and gather the many people who are part of the city, but who we do not always notice. Thomas Dausell creates an archive of the mass, rather than the individual. The concrete is collective, and the specific is something that concerns us all.
Striking similarity
In spite of a common reference, however, the characteristic features of each individual emerge apparently clearly. Even though one may think that the similarity is often striking, the portraits are not necessarily the one you are or the person you would like to appear as.
Thomas Dausell is educated from The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, and DJK in Aarhus, and for many years now, has worked consciously and largely conceptually with the portrait as an artistic expression.
See or download the exhibition catalogue here
The exhibition is sponsored by:
