Visuals by Signe Dige.
Press Release, July 2021
If Given My Body
A group exhibition with Cistina Lavin, Davide Hjort Di Fabio, Emilie Imán, Johannes Arvidsson and Stine Victoria.
Arrange the Ants is pleased to present If Given My Body, a pop-up group exhibition at Gallery Bo Bjerggaard that will take place from 13 - 15 August 2021.
If Given My Body explores “the bodily” and its relationship to institutions, communities, and the realms of art and aesthetics. The body has been a dominant theme in Western art history. Since antiquity, bodies of ideal shapes were celebrated and immortalized as sculptures. Whilst history advanced, limited categories of body ideals still structure today’s society. Our physical forms are shoved into conceptual categories – dominant narratives allow stories to be told quickly. You don’t need diversity because the characters are stereotypes, we already know. In these narratives velocity increases, while the possibility of difference decreases. These categories thereby continuously contribute to narratives that mirror the majority.
Corporal alienation is, for some people, a result of this culture where bodies are easy to label – easy to manipulate according to broad generalizations – and therefore, easy to judge. This show centralizes the body and considers how it is formed relative to institutions of homogenous order. Based on experiences of constraint, we seek to expand understandings of the body and to leave inadequate classifications behind. How can we reclaim our bodies and allow them the freedom to take unlimited forms of expression?
This exhibition presents artworks by Cistina Lavin, Davide Hjort Di Fabio, Emilie Imán, Johannes Arvidsson and Stine Victoria. The artists work across different media but each share a concern with the theme of corporeal freedom or a lack of the same. They voice the need for a broader perception of the body and suggest how to lend form to compassion through art.
Opening: Friday the 13th of August, 16-22. Facebook event.
Longtable dinner: Sunday the 15th of August, 18-22 (more info here).
Exhibition period: 13 - 15 August, 2021.
COVID NOTICE: Following the current guidelines we can accommodate 90 guests in the gallery.
About Arrange The Ants
The ants work through collective intelligence.
No blueprint. No leader. Just self-organization and collaboration.
Arrange the Ants is a nomadic gallery founded by curator and art historians Fafaya Mogensen and Julie Marie Mønsted. Through nomadic exhibitions, we want to inhabit, activate and transform the spaces where the status quo of art manifests itself. An artistic archive that unfolds the narratives that are underrepresented in the general discourse. Our initiative is an artistic recording of our shared history where marginalized voices contribute to the archive and where integrity comes before commercial interests. Our mission is to support a new generation of artists and art collectors.
Code of conduct:
We have zero tolerance for racism, homophobia, transphobia, sexism, classism, abilism, ageism and any form of discrimination or harassment.
We will challenge the inequalities within the art industry.
We will ensure that artists feel seen and heard.
We will check in with and acknowledge our privilege constantly.
We will provide a platform for artists to showcase their work.
We will be a space for learning and un-learning.
We won’t contribute to cultural amnesia.