Artist: Mathias Toubro
Exhibition title: Mr Toddy and Mrs. Caldo
Venue: Cucina, Copenhagen, Denmark
Date: June 10 – July 23, 2022
Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artists and Cucina, Copenhagen
Three artists are sitting in a cafe in Rome, not with each other but aware. Though not from the city, it still feels like home.
Two and Three hate One. Who, for one, is super sensitive. The two may have good reasons to hate One. Two and Three are completely unaware of each other and their mutual loathing of One.
Mr. Toddy and Mrs. is a portrait of an artist and his favorite home away from home. The story is told by himself and by the people forced to spend time with him.
The main protagonist is Hans Christian Andersen, and the place is Antico Caffé Greco. The two remaining are Charles Dickens and Johanne Luise Heiberg.
“On his numerous trips to Rome, Hans Christian Andersen always had that felt almost like home. A place where he would be welcomed, and everyone would know his name. Andersen would spend a large chunk of his time in Rome at Antico Caffé Greco chatting, joking, and drinking coffee and toddies with his peers. This was the place he received his mail and could read his foreign newspapers.
Antico Caffé Greco is the oldest café in Rome, located close to The Spanish Steps. The café was established in 1760 by a Greek man, hence the name—Greco. Through the years, the café has been a rendezvous for some of the greatest Italian and foreign artists of their time. Keats, Byron, Goethe, Listz, Wagner, Casanova etc. Also, Hans Christian Andersen, Bertel Thorvaldsen and other Scandinavians were among the habitual guests of the café.
The interior of the café has been preserved since the 1800s. Among the café’s many photographs and paintings, you’ll find notes and framed drawings and papercuts by Andersen.
In the innermost room of the café, you’ll find the yellow sofa Andersen had in his Rome apartment.”
Excerpt from script for the film
The exhibition consists of three puppets, a wooden whale and a series of assemblages. Through the exhibition, an animated film is being created with the puppets acting the roles of the three central characters and the assemblages doubling as set design. Throughout the exhibition period, excerpts from the film will be featured. The finished film will be released shortly after the exhibition concludes.
