FEARLESS (IN A DREAM), 2021
Solo exhibition supported by the Danish Arts Council
PRESS RELEASE
In her work for Fearless (in a dream), Mette Vangsgaard is inspired by Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, called in English, Polopilo’s Strife of Love in a Dream or The Dream of Poliphilus. The novel is said to be by Francesco Colonna, first published in 1499 in Venice, and it is a famous example of an incunable (a work of early print making). The story presents a mysterious arcane allegory of a romance in which the main protagonist, Poliphilo, pursues his love, Polia, through a mysterious dreamlike landscape filled by ornaments, flowers and orchards, and in his travels he meets monsters, gods, nymphs and strange plants on his way.
Mette Vangsgaard presents an exhibition of figurative works, all of which appear as part of a larger narrative about the world of dreams through Poliphilo’s journey. In two large works, Vangsgaard has combined the woodcut with the painting and textile on canvas in her characteristic collage technique. The two works presents us with a dark landscape that describes the night or the dream. In one of the works ’In the tall grass’ we meet a young man sleeping under a tree with long hangings branches.
The night in the dark landscapes are connected in the exhibition with light, the day, by spatial sculptures of hand-blown glass and ceramics. In an installation of glass sculptures with light, we see strange overripe fruits hanging from the tree with the long branches, and in small landscapes on the floor, we meet flowers and a monster of glazed ceramics, as well as nymphs and the plants Mouse Ears from Polihilo’s tale, created as glass carafes.
In Fearless (in a dream) Mette Vangsgaard continues to work with her fundamental interest in the culturally determined values, that our lives depend on, and which motivates our ideals, attitudes and actions. Especially in relation to our treatment of nature, which is connected to our daily lives, dreams, stories, history and myths.
Thus there is also the fine balance between a narrative – sometimes ethical voice in the her works, and the interest in the various possibilities and forms of expression in the different materials, for which we know Vangsgaard. Author George D. Painter has said: ’Reality itself is mysterious – perhaps our largest problem is that we think we need to understand and control everything. In relation to this, Vangsgaard’s new narratives move into a symbolic track that also contains non-everyday movements that deals with the human mind and dreams.
The exhibition is supported by Danish Arts Foundation
PRESS: Mette Vangsgaard arbejde i udstillingen Fearless (in a dream ) er inspireret af Hypnerotomachia Poliphili eller Polopilo’s Strife of love in a dream. Det er en kærlighedsroman publiceret første gang i Venedig 1499, angiveligt skrevet af Francesco Colonna og et berømt eksempel på den tidligere trykkekunst. Fortællingen er en allegori over en romance. Historien præsenterer Poliphilo, som falder i søvn, og i drømmen rejser gennem mystiske landskaber af ornamenter, blomster og frugtplantager i sin søgen efter sin elskede Polia, og i disse drømmeagtige landskaber møder han uhyrer, guder, nymfer og mærkelige planter på sin vej. Mette Vangsgaard præsenterer en udstilling bestående af figurative værker, der alle fremstår som en del af en større fortælling om drømmenes verden gennem Poliphilos rejse. I to store værker har Vangsgaard kombineret træsnittet med maleriet og tekstil på lærred i sin karakteristiske collageteknik. De to værker præsenterer os for et mørkt landskab, der beskriver natten eller drømmen, og i det ene værk I det høje græs, ses en ung mand sovende under et træ med lange hængende grene. Natten og de mørke landskaber forbindes i udstilling af lyset, dagen, i rumlige skulpturer af håndblæst glas og keramik. I en installation af glasskulpturer med lys ser vi sære overmodne frugter hængende fra træet med de lange grene, og i små landskaber på gulvet møder vi et monster af glaseret keramik, samt nymfer og planterne Mouse Ear skabt som glaskarafler fra Poliphilos fortælling. I Frygtløs (i en drøm) arbejder Mette Vangsgaard videre med sin grundlæggende interesse for de kulturelt bestemte værdier vores liv beror på, som motiverer vores idealer, holdninger og handlinger. Særligt i forhold til vores brug af naturen, der har forbindelse til vores dagligdag, drømme, fortællinger, historie og myte. Herunder ligger den fine balance mellem en fortællende – til tider etiske - stemme i værkerne og interessen for materialernes forskellige muligheder og udtryksformer, som vi kender hende for. Forfatteren George D. Painter har sagt: ’Virkeligheden i sig selv er mystisk – måske er det vores store problem, at vi tror, vi skal forstå og kontrollere alting’. I tråd med dette, bevæger Vangsgaards nye fortællinger sig ind på et symbolistisk spor, der også indeholder ikke-hverdagsagtige bevægelser, der handler om menneskets indre, vores drømme og tilstande