Ein anderer Surrealismus at Tønder Art Museum

Artists: Bunny Rogers, Ernst Yohji Jäger, Esben Weile Kjær, John Miller, Lizzie Fitch, Magnus Andersen, Mira Winding, Nina Beier, Rikard Thambert, Rolf Nowotny, Ryan Trecartin, Sako Kojima, Sophie Z.S. Suaning, Soshiro Matsubara, Sylvie Fleury, Tora Schultz

Exhibition title: Ein anderer Surrealismus

Curated by: Anna Weile Kjær and Rune Finseth

Venue: Tønder Art Museum, Tønder, Denmark

Date: November 11, 2022 – May 14, 2023

Photography: © David Stjernholm all images copyright and courtesy of the artists and Tønder Art Museum

Surrealism emerged in the early 1920s as an aggressively dreaming movement that sought to tap into the unconscious mind by allowing the unconscious to flow freely and thereby reshape society and, not least, capitalism. The state of our society today resembles the photographic negative of that aim. The divide between the ego and the id is blurred, but hardly in the way that Breton and the other surrealists might have imagined. Capitalism has invaded the human mind to such an extent that the system has seemingly taken over the abstract and illogical form of the mind and the unconscious. One could call this phenomenon ‘capitalist surrealism’ inspired by cultural theorist Mark Fisher’s concept of ‘capitalist realism’. Surrealism’s method was forged as a weapon against capitalist modernism’s steel cage of rationality. But in these latest stages of capitalism, it often feels as if capitalism has surpassed surrealism in terms of absurdities. The exhibition points to a new type of artistic activity, one which actively utilises the potent methodological and conceptional apparatus of surrealism to delve into and expose the present day’s capitalist surrealism. Contemporary artists’ engagement with mystical and surrealistic imagery can thus also be read as an attempt to communicate, to reach out to a community in a late- capitalist reality where this is becoming increasingly impossible. The kinship between the contemporary works and surrealism opens a space where the historical and contemporary works communicate as equals— across time, artistic movements, and societal systems.

-Text by Anna Weile Kjær

Ein anderer Surrealismus, 2022-2023, exhibition view, Tønder Art Museum, Photo: David Stjernholm

Sylvie Fleury: Hot Heels, 1999. ‘Ein anderer Surrealismus’, Tønder Art Museum. Photo: David Stjernholm. Courtesy of the artist and Sprüth Magers Gallery, Berlin

Bunny Rogers & Régime des Fleurs: As Above So Below, 2019; TBT, 2020. ’Ein anderer Surrealismus’, Tønder Art Museum. Photo: David Stjernholm. Courtesy of the artist and Société Berlin

Nina Beier & John Miller: A True Mirror, 2018/19/22. ‘Ein anderer Surrealismus’, Tønder Art Museum. Photo: David Stjernholm. Courtesy of the artists and Meyer Riegger, Berlin

Ryan Trecartin: I-Be Area, 2007; Lizzie Fitch / Ryan Trecartin: Moviepool, 2022. ‘Ein anderer Surrealismus’, Tønder Art Museum. Photo: David Stjernholm. Courtesy of the artists; Regen Projects, Los Angeles & Sprüth Magers, Berlin

Tora Schultz: Devil’s Contract, 2021. Painting by Rita Kernn-Larsen (1904-1998). ‘Ein anderer Surrealismus’, Tønder Art Museum. Photo: David Stjernholm. Courtesy of the artist and Palace Enterprise, Copenhagen

Nina Beier: Plunge, 2015. Paintings by Vilhelm Bjerke Petersen (1909-1957) & Franciska Clausen (1899-1986). ‘Ein anderer Surrealismus’, Tønder Art Museum. Photo: David Stjernholm. Courtesy of the artist and Croy Nielsen, Vienna

Ein anderer Surrealismus, 2022-2023, exhibition view, Tønder Art Museum, Photo: David Stjernholm

Rolf Nowotny: Sleptilt, 2022. Painting by Wilhelm Freddie (1909-1995). ‘Ein anderer Surrealismus’, Tønder Art Museum. Photo: David Stjernholm. Courtesy of the artist and Christian Andersen, Copenhagen

Bunny Rogers: Lady Train Set, 2019; TBT, 2020. Painting by Wilhelm Freddie (1909-1995). ‘Ein anderer Surrealismus’, Tønder Art Museum. Photo: David Stjernholm. Courtesy of the artist and Sociéte, Berlin

Rikard Thambert: Vask, 2022. Painting by Wilhelm Freddie (1909-1995). ‘Ein anderer Surrealismus’, Tønder Art Museum. Photo: David Stjernholm. Courtesy of the artist and Bianca D’Alessandro, Copenhagen

Magnus Andersen: Lammes lokkes ind i det høje græs, 2022. Painting by Elsa Thoresen (1906-1994). ‘Ein anderer Surrealismus’, Tønder Art Museum. Photo: David Stjernholm. Courtesy of the artist and Palace Enterprise, Copenhagen

Tora Schultz: Pinocchio (1940), 2022. Sculpture by Wilhelm Freddie (1909-1995). ‘Ein anderer Surrealismus’, Tønder Art Museum. Photo: David Stjernholm. Courtesy of the artist and Palace Enterprise, Copenhagen

Esben Weile Kjær: Pudlens kerne, 2022. Painting by Harry Carlsson (1891-1968). ’Ein anderer Surrealismus’, Tønder Art Museum. Photo: David Stjernholm. Courtesy of the artist and Andersen’s, Copenhagen

Sako Kojima: A Washing Pole Family, 2022. ‘Ein anderer Surrealismus’, Tønder Art Museum. Photo: David Stjernholm. Courtesy of the artist

Sako Kojima: Baby long arm – The act of 27people in Tønder 11.11.2022, 2022. ‘Ein anderer Surrealismus’, Tønder Art Museum. Photo: David Stjernholm. Courtesy of the artist

Sako Kojima: I Can Be Alone 3, 2022. Painting by Wilhelm Freddie (1909-1995). ‘Ein anderer Surrealismus’, Tønder Art Museum. Photo: David Stjernholm. Courtesy of the artist

Ernst Yohji Jaeger & Vilhelm Bjerke Petersen (1909-1957). ’Ein anderer Surrealismus’, Tønder Art Museum. Photo: David Stjernholm. Courtesy of the artist and Croy Nielsen, Vienna

Ernst Yohji Jaeger: Untitled (Night), 2021; (TBT), 2022; Untitled (Dog), 2021. ’Ein anderer Surrealismus’, Tønder Art Museum. Photo: David Stjernholm. Courtesy of the artist and Croy Nielsen, Vienna

Ernst Yohji Jaeger: Untitled 8 (View), 2020. ’Ein anderer Surrealismus’, Tønder Art Museum. Photo: David Stjernholm. Courtesy of the artist and Croy Nielsen, Vienna

Ernst Yohji Jaeger: Untitled 6 (Seated), 2020; Untitled 1, 2020. ’Ein anderer Surrealismus’, Tønder Art Museum. Photo: David Stjernholm. Courtesy of the artist and Croy Nielsen, Vienna

Sophie Z.S. Suaning: Dom, 2022. ’Ein anderer Surrealismus’, Tønder Art Museum. Photo: David Stjernholm. Courtesy of the artist.

Soshiro Matsubara: Study for a Labyrinth, 2022. Gouache by Rita Kernn- Larsen (1904-1998). ’Ein anderer Surrealismus’, Tønder Art Museum. Photo: David Stjernholm. Courtesy of the artist and Croy Nielsen, Vienna

Soshiro Matsubara: Study for a Labyrinth, 2022. Painting by Rita Kernn- Larsen (1904-1998). ’Ein anderer Surrealismus’, Tønder Art Museum. Photo: David Stjernholm. Courtesy of the artist and Croy Nielsen, Vienna

Soshiro Matsubara: Study for a Labyrinth, 2022. Painting by Vilhelm Bjerke Petersen (1909-1957). ’Ein anderer Surrealismus’, Tønder Art Museum. Photo: David Stjernholm. Courtesy of the artist and Croy Nielsen, Vienna.

Magnus Andersen: A farm manager welcomes, 2021; Farming Simulator, 2015-21. Ein anderer Surrealismus’, Tønder Art Museum. Photo: David Stjernholm. Courtesy of the artist and Palace Enterprise, Copenhagen