Sunday, 12 March 2006 | Elif Sungur
Homecity
Is it possible to create an entire city from the houses in which one has lived throughout one's life - a home city in the most literal sense? This is exactly what the contemporary Danish artist Morten Stręde (b. 1956) has done in his total installation HOMECITY.
Comprising 200 computer drawings, seven sculptures, four animated films and a model city, the work has been underway for a decade. For the first time it is presented in toto at ARKEN.
The Architect of the Utopia
Despite all references to existing buildings, HOMECITY is a utopia. As a sort of architect of the utopia Morten Stręde creates a fantastic, nonexistent place; the embodiment of a city in which you are completely at home but which only exists somewhere between memory and fancy.
The exhibition, then, is about personal recollection, the collective historical con-sciousness and the history of the European city. At the same time it concerns the way in which we take in our surroundings and the spaces of the city - and how the physical setting influences our notions of the city emotionally and intellectually.
About Morten Stręde
Morten Stręde (b. 1956) has been a dominant figure on the Danish art scene since the 1980s. He is an alumnus of The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen (1978-85), first under Sven Dalsgaard and subsequently Hein Heinsen. 1994-2003 Stręde served as professor of sculpting at the institution.
Morten Stręde is represented in a large number of museums in Denmark and Scandinavia and furthermore has created several sculptures for Danish city spaces. A frequent exhibitor of both solo and groups shows at home and abroad, Stręde participates in the ongoing debate about developing the city and public space through his artistic production, his work in various municipal and art committees as well as his theoretical writings.
Stręde has been awarded numerous prizes, including in 2000 the Eckersberg Medallion. In recognition of his significant contributions to Danish art, in October 2005 Morten Stręde was awarded the lifelong artists' grant by The Danish Arts Foundation.
The exhibition will take place until 30 April 2006.
For further information, please visit http://www.arken.dk/exhibition_item.asp?ID=13216
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