The Danish and Nordic Pavilions
Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden

53rd International Art Exhibition
La Biennale di Venezia

The Danish Arts Council and the Nordic Committee
Announce

'The Collectors'

Curated and staged by Elmgreen & Dragset

Professional preview opening: Thursday, June 4, 2009 at 15:00
Public opening: Sunday, June 7, 2009
The exhibition will remain on view through November 22, 2009

http://www.danish-nordic-pavilions.com

For the 53rd Venice Biennale, the Danish and Nordic Pavilions will host 'The Collectors', a single exhibition curated and staged by artist duo Elmgreen & Dragset. With contributions from twenty-four international artists and artist groups, Elmgreen & Dragset will transform the Danish and Nordic Pavilions into domestic environments, and invite the audience to be guests in them. Dining rooms, bedrooms, furniture, fireplaces, a stained glass skylight and the artworks nestled within the households, will reveal the uncanny stories of fictional inhabitants, with their obsessive characters and diverse lifestyles.

The public will be guided on a tour by a real estate agent through a "For Sale" Danish Pavilion, and will be told the story of the family dramas that used to haunt this house. The neighboring Nordic Pavilion has been turned into a flamboyant bachelor's pad. Here the audience will experience not only the collection of contemporary artworks and design from the mysterious Mr. B., but also his collection of ex-lovers' used swimwear. As the title 'The Collectors' indicates, the exhibition will approach the topic of collecting, and the psychology behind the practice of expressing oneself through physical objects.

More than twenty artists and designers of all ages, ranging from established to emerging ones, will contribute to creating a different kind of exhibition format: One that will appear closer to a film set than a conventional art display. The curators aim to create a feeling of intimacy with their staged exhibition – one that counters the official spectacle and formal nature of the Biennale – and, in close collaboration with the participating artists and designers, they hope to circumvent the usual competitive aspects of the larger art event.


The Artists:
The artists and designers included in the exhibition are: Thora Dolven Balke, Massimo Bartolini, Hernan Bas, Guillaume Bijl, Maurizio Cattelan, Elmgreen & Dragset, Pepe Espaliú, Tom of Finland, Simon Fujiwara, Han & Him, Laura Horelli, Martin Jacobson, William E. Jones, Terence Koh, Jani Leinonen, Klara Lidén, Jonathan Monk, Nico Muhly, Norway Says, Henrik Olesen, Nina Saunders, Vibeke Slyngstad, Sturtevant and Wolfgang Tillmans.

The Curators:
Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset have been collaborating as an artist duo since 1995, and have exhibited in art institutions around the world, including Tate Modern and the Serpentine Gallery in London, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, the Museum für Moderne Kunst in Frankfurt am Main and their major survey show at MUSAC in Leon which is on view through June this year.

The Commissioners:
'The Collectors' is a first time collaboration between the Danish Pavilion and the Nordic Pavilion initiated by the Danish Arts Council's Committee for International Visual Art, which serves as Commissioner for the Danish Pavilion, and Office for Contemporary Art Norway, which serves as Commissioner for the Nordic Pavilion on behalf of the Nordic Committee, the members of which are the Office for Contemporary Art Norway, FRAME Finnish Fund for Art Exchange and Moderna Museet.


For International Press:
Brian Phillips, Black Frame New York, bphillips@framenoir.com

For additional information and Danish, Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish press contacts, please check: http://www.danish-nordic-pavilions.com

Funders
'The Collectors' is funded by the Danish Arts Council, the Office for Contemporary Art Norway, FRAME Finnish Fund for Art Exchange and Moderna Museet.

Additional support

'The Collectors' has received additional support from The Arts Council Norway, Nordic Culture Fund, Fritt Ord – The Freedom of Expression Foundation and Fondazione Nicola Trussardi

'The Collectors' has received sponsoring in kind from Republic of Fritz Hansen™, Erik Jørgensen Møbelfabrik, Le Klint, Knoll International, Louis Poulsen and Montana by Peter Lassen