There are treats aplenty in store in the exhibition Women and Change, which focuses on 150 years of very different representations of women and gender in art.
What does it mean to be a woman today? What is feminine? Who defines what femininity is? Who can be female? And is femininity gender specific at all?
The exhibition Women and Change unfolds how Western art history has depicted women from the Modern Breakthrough of the late nineteenth century to the most recent contemporary art. In a wealth of works of art by Danish and international artists, you can explore how artists have, over the course of the past 150 years, reflected, responded to and resisted changing perceptions of both women and gender: from Impressionist portraits to performative body art. From lush studies of nudes to critical examinations of how history is written.
The history of the women’s movement begins to leave its mark on the world of art as far back as 1870. New ideas about women’s emancipation – and a new outlook on art – meant that more women artists got the opportunity to practice their art and exhibit. The word ‘kvinde’ for ‘woman’ entered the Danish language as a replacement for more dismissive labels these years, raising hopes for new times ahead in terms of women’s rights and roles.
Since then, countless artists have rebelled against traditional depictions of women, helping to expand and add nuance to our view of gender and gender identity. Since 2017, the #MeToo movement – originally launched by African-American activist Tarana Burke in 2006 – has shown us that the battle for women’s right to their own bodies remains ongoing.
Our concepts of women and femininity are constantly changing, renegotiated and up for discussion. The exhibition Women and Change tells the story of women’s liberation through art while also exploring our present time where new perspectives and perceptions of body ideals, gender identity and femininity infuse the public debate.
This spectacular, sensuous and thought-provoking exhibition will feature works by Marina Abramovic, Dara Birnbaum, Louise Bourgeois, Arvida Byström, Claude Cahun, Kate Cooper, Ditte Ejlerskov and EvaMarie Lindahl, Paul Gauguin, Guerrilla Girls, Sophie Holten, Marie Høeg and Bolette Berg, Lena Johansson, Kirsten Justesen, Birgit Jürgensen, Johannes Larsen, Marie Laurencin, Vilhelm Lundstrøm, Marie Krøyer, Ana Mendieta, Berthe Morisot, Emilie Mundt, Frida Orupoba, Lene Adler Petersen, Laure Prouvost, Pipilotti Rist, Cindy Sherman, Andy Warhol, Tabita Rezaire, Sif Itona Westerberg, Cajsa von Zeipel and many more.
