Photo: Rasmus Kirkelökke Svane

Opening reception: 06.04.2024 at 16:00

Augustenborg_Project, Galleri Christoffer Egelund and The Embassy of Iceland proudly present HUMAN by the Icelandic sculptor Steinunn Thórarinsdóttir. Steinunn Thórarinnsdóttir’s life-size sculptures of anonymous human figures elicit an immediate feeling of recognition in us. They represent a general humanity – they are all of us and none of us at the same time. The exhibition is the artist’s first exhibition in Southern Jutland and can be experienced at Augustenborg_Project, Palævej 9A in Augustenborg from 6th April 2024 until 31st October 2025. Join us at the exhibition opening on 6th April 2024 at 16.00 to meet the artist and the Icelandic ambassador, Árni Þór Sigurðsson.

When we encounter one of Steinunn Thórarinsdóttir’s sculptures, we can’t help but be a little startled. Posed as if interacting naturally with their environment, her life-size human figures are very easily mistaken for real humans at first glance. Only upon closer inspection, do we realise what they really are: androgynous human figures without individualised features, which, due to their naturalistic modelling and effortless posing, seem to be relating to space in much the same way we humans do. They may be lounging on a bench or on the ground, or standing around casually, waving at passers-by. Only their rough texture, inspired by the volcanic landscapes of Iceland, and their stillness betray the fact that they are actually works of art.

When we come across an object which seems at first to be something deeply familiar, like a human being, but which, upon further inspection, turns out to deviate from the familiar, it often evokes a disturbing feeling that what should be utterly natural is, in fact. unnatural. This feeling is often referred to as the feeling of the uncanny, a term coined in large part by Sigmund Freud in his 1919 eponymous essay.

A classic example of an object likely to evoke the feeling of the uncanny is the wax doll made in the exact likeness of a particular individual, like the ones one can experience at Madame Tussaud’s. At first glance, such a doll might look like a real human being, but its eerie stillness betrays its status as an inanimate object.

It is little wonder that Steinunn Thórarinsdóttir’s sculptures can evoke the feeling of the uncanny. Made by taking a cast of a real person (in most cases her son) which is reworked and further transformed, sometimes being combined with volcanic rocks from Iceland, the figures retain a trace of the human which enables us to relate to them. Their anonymous features and androgynous look make them a symbol of a generalised humanity – they could be any of us, and so, they are all of us. And they are not without humour with their playful poses: lying flat against a vertical wall, or cut and mirrored in whimsical ways. Whether we are disturbed by their uncanniness, or whether we feel compelled to sit beside them, touch them or take a selfie with them, Steinunn Thórarinsdóttir’s sculptures speak to us on a very basic level. They compel us to reflect on exactly what makes us see something as HUMAN – a question which has quickly become pressing in a world marked by the rapid rise of artificial intelligence.

Steinunn’s sculptures gain yet another dimension in this particular exhibition space. The building now housing Augustenborg_Project was, until 2015, a psychiatric hospital. Throughout history, psychiatric hospitals have been places where the individual was dehumanised. Here, people were reduced to patients, to numbers and to the status of a successful or failed treatment. When we meet a sculpture by Steinunn Thórarinsdóttir in these exact rooms, when we stand where patients once lay, we cannot help but think of the many individuals who were forcefully given a status in between the human and the non-human.

Steinunn Thórarinsdóttir (b. 1955) is one of Iceland’s most renowned artists. She holds a BA Honours degree in Fine Art from the University of Portsmouth and studied sculpture at Portsmouth College of Art and Design and Accademia di Belle Arte in Bologna, Italy. She has received the honours of The Order of the Falcon and an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Hull in England for her achievements. Her works have been exhibited at museums, galleries and in public space around the world, including in Copenhagen, Reykjavik, New York, London and Toronto.

If you wish to receive further information about the works, please do not hesitate to contact Galleri Christoffer Egelund at info@christofferegelund.dk, +45 339 392 00, or visit christofferegelund.dk.