Saara Ekström at Gl. Holtegaard in Denmark

LUSCIOUS THRILLS Baroque reflections then and now, 26th August – 30th of December 2016.

The exhibition Luscious Thrills Baroque reflections then and now is a story about man seen through some of art history’s most iconic imagery: the vanitas iconography. The vanitas motif witnesses the fundamental tensions that underpin human existence; on the one hand the enjoyment of the worldly life and on the other hand the awareness of the inevitable end of life and the transience of all things.

Across two historical epochs – the Baroque and our contemporary time – the exhibition reflects how artists during times of economic prosperity have worked with the vanitas imagery and other symbols of vanity. The exhibition embodies ethical and existential discussions that touch upon many different bodily, social, political and economic outlooks and ways of perceiving our day and age filtered through Baroque themes in art.

Exhibiting artists:
Martin Erik Andersen (1964-), Helen Chadwick (1953-96), Pieter Claesz (1597-1660), Alexander Coosemans (1627-89), Johann Sigismund Ebert (1676-1727), Saara Ekström (1965-), Jiri Georg Dokoupil (1954-), Elmgreen & Dragset (1961- & 1969-), Ori Gersht (1967-), Jeppe Hein (1974-), Damien Hirst (1965-), Wes Lang (1972-), Pieter Moninckx (1606-1686), Ignaz Stern (1679-1748), Sam Taylor-Johnson (1967-), Francesco Vezzoli (1971-) og Matthias Withoos (1627-1703).

The exhibition is supported by:
Augustinus Fonden, Beckett-Fonden and 15. Juni Fonden. The Danish Arts Council supports Gl. Holtegaard’s two year exhibition program.

Photo: Saara Ekström, Cries and Whispers, 2002 
Statens Museum for Kunst © SMK Foto