MONSTER SOUP – A Heady Brew of Art Projects in Public Spaces

21st of April – July 25th 2021

KØS proudly presents the exhibition MONSTER SOUP – A Heady Brew of Art Projects in Public Spaces zooming in on artists who have recently taken the leap into working in public space.

Driven by curiosity and the desire to show contemporary art that has yet to enter the established realm of art in public spaces, KØS has invited nine curators to identify an art project that gives an impression of the direction contemporary art is currently taking in cities, landscapes, online and in other public contexts and spaces.

Presenting projects ranging from meditative respites and urban healing, to open source projects, public hygiene and monumental Diddl sculptures, the exhibition gives visitors the chance to experience what’s brewing, and what we as a museum might have risked overlooking if we hadn’t multiplied out curatorial horizons ninefold.

Given the past year’s debates on art in public space, we wanted to stop up and listen – and let other voices be heard.
The curators we’ve invited are: Lars Bent Petersen, Anna Weile Kjær, Mikkel Elming, South into North, Stine Kähler, Matthias Borello, Irene Campolmi, Andreas Tang and Kit Leunbach.

Some of them have close connections to Denmark’s art academies, some are experienced in initiating and curating projects in public space, whereas others have demonstrated a high level of drive and ambition in pushing contemporary art forward in smaller art spaces or shown a commitment to bringing art into unexpected places. What they all have in common is a sharp eye on the public art of the future.
The exhibition presents the work of art students, recent academy graduates, and established artists who have only recently embarked on works in public spaces. The works range from new art projects about to be launched in the public domain, whereas others can only be experienced in the exhibition itself as unrealised proposals or transitory, performative projects shown in the form of sketches, works in progress or re-enactments.

The exhibiting artists are: Anna Weber Henriksen, Til Vægs (Mette Nisgaard Larsen, Søren-Emil Schütt, & Marie-Louise Vittrup), Aia Sofia Coverley Turan, Esben Weile Kjær, Mathias Riis Andersen & Malthe Stadsgaard, Kubra Khademi, Nina Beier, Sara Kramer & Vibe Overgaard, Philip | Schneider & Hans Rosenström, Jens Settergren, coyote and Miriam Kongstad.

We’ve invited curator Kit Leunbach to bring these diverse art projects together in an exhibition giving visitors an up-to-date snapshot of the energy and diversity of art in public space today – and in the future.

The exhibition is supported by:

The Obel Family Foundation supports KØS’ curatorial strategy 2019-2021

The exhibition title is taken from Jens Settergren’s project Monster Soup, one of the works in the exhibition.
Photo: Kubra Khademi: The Moist Realities, 2013