Publications
Andy Warhol - The Man Behind the Myth
There is almost a presumed expectation of what an Andy Warhol exhibition should look, appear and feel like. It should preferably contain works of Marilyn Monroe, large silk screens of flowers, celebrities and of course Campbell soup cans. These expectations only serve to reinforce the myth about the artist Warhol, it preaches to the choir and challenges nothing. One should of course not disregard the exceptional quality of the above works, because they are extraordinary, but also a reflection of the public impression of Warhol's world and his mythologising. Because of this there’s still many perspectives and elements surrounding Warhol's art and person not being illuminated, or directly struggling to emerge from the shadows of myth.
It is precisely these misrepresentations that is explored through both well-known and obscure works by Warhol, while keeping a focus on the lesser-known currents within Warhol's life and art, which have been crucial in the development of the public impression of Warhol. However these constant frictions between the public and private Warhol, the person and the myth, also sheds light on a completely different and deliberately obscure side of Warhol.
To further this experience and exploration, the exhibition and catalogue will not only rely on artworks, but also include objects from Warhol's personal archive, as well as conflicting positions within the catalogue.
Andy Warhol - The Man Behind the Myth
ISBN 9788788367942
Pages 164
Editor - Michael Bank Christoffersen
Assistant editor - Mathilde Helnæs
Writers - Michael Bank Christoffersen, Maurice Blanchot, Mathilde Helnæs, Toke Lykkeberg, Blake Gopnik, Judith Butler, Jørgen Leth and José Carlos Diaz
Curator - Michael Bank Christoffersen
Assistant Curator - Mathilde Helnæs
Printed by Narayana Press, 2016
Graphic design by Studio Claus Due
Troels Wörsel - La Pittura
Troels Wösel explored the potential of painting for over thirty years. In his last exhibition La Pittura (Italien for painting), Troels Wörsel kept his focus on the possibilities and limitations of painting in relation to how we perceive and experience it.
The exhibition presented four new series of works, each in their own way focusing on a fleeting glance. Although perception - the interpretation of something sensed - is my no means a new topic within art history, it remained a central theme and an important focus for Wörsel.
Wörsel was thoughtful and in his own way fastidious artist. The material is nevertheless permeated with an insatiable appetite, especially for all the verbal aspects of painting, understood as text in pictures and as the wealth of signs embedded in every picture. In his art, Wörsel never revealed himself – in that respect he was ‘cool’; but he shared what preoccupies every original artistic talent: a world on a surface. And for that reason, he was in many respects also often a artist for the art and the artists.
Troels Wörsel was born i 1950 in Aarhus, and lived and worked in Cologne, Germany, and in Pietrasanta, Italy. He passed away in 2018.
ISBN 9788788367997
Pages 90
Editor - Michael Bank Christoffersen
Assistant editor - Cecilie Marie Dahlhoff
Writers - Michael Bank Christoffersen and Holger Reenberg
Curator - Michael Bank Christoffersen
Assistant Curator - Cecilie Marie Dahlhoff
Printed by Rosendahls, 2016
Alex Da Corte - 50 Wigs
Bright psychedelic colours, glossy plastic, mirrors, and perspex entice the viewer into a compelling and imaginative universe in HEART’s exhibition 50 Wigs. Da Corte’s installations seek to provide a total experience activating all senses. Making full use of ordinary everyday objects from shampoo to washing-up brushes his works references our consumer culture as much as our personal affection and preferences. Through an emotionally driven process everyday objects are transformed into art — even Warhol’s personal possessions are temporarily turned into objets d’art and enables Da Corte to engage and dialogue with Warhol’s practise in a deeply poetic and illuminating manner.
The exhibition leads the viewer through four galleries, each thematising different narratives and settings from Andy Warhol’s life through the objects that fascinated Warhol. The objects, including 50 of his wigs, are borrowed from the Warhol Museum, owner of the artist’s estate. The objects do not seek to relate specific details about Warhol as a person and artist; instead they take on new meanings in Da Corte’s works.
The exhibition was the first institutional solo presentation of Alex Da Corte and was the culmination of two years of research between Alex Da Corte and Michael Bank Christoffersen, kindly facilitated by The Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh and their director Eric Shiner.
Selected by The Danish Arts Book Committee for ‘Distinguished books of the Year’ 2018
ISBN 9788788367966 8788367967
Pages 88
Editor - Michael Bank Christoffersen
Assistant editor - Cecilie Marie Dahlhoff
Writers - Michael Bank Christoffersen, Alex Da Corte and William Gym
Curator - Michael Bank Christoffersen
Assistant Curator - Cecilie Marie Dahlhoff
Printed by Narayana Press, 2016
Graphic design by Studio Claus Due
Photos by Lior Zilberstein
Ingvar Cronhammar - Design
Produced on the occasion of the renowned artist Ingvar Cronhammar’s solo exhibition Ingvar Cronhammar – Design at HEART (Herning Museum of Contemporary Art), this book celebrates Cronhammar’s four decades of impact on the Danish art and design world.
In his last years, Cronhammar designed a number of objects; lamps, cutlery, benches, chairs, that exist in between art and design. The exhibtion, which was his last before passing away in 2021, constituted a deep and expansive examination of the borderline between design and art that permeated Ingvar Cronhammar’s oeuvre.
Curated by Michael Bank Christoffersen, and taking its point of departure in HEART’s collection by Cronhammar, the exhibition manifested the Cronhammarian shadowlands, a mix between a creationzone and a psycho-geographical territory that Cronhammar disclosed as green, black and red areas, again made real in the exhibition and explored in the catalogue.
Ingvar Cronhammar - Design
ISBN 9788788367942
Pages 195
Editors - Michael Bank Christoffersen and Jesper Laursen
Assistant editors - Cecilie Marie Dahlhoff
Writers - Jesper Laursen and Anders V. Munch
Curator - Michael Bank Christoffersen
Assistant Curator - Cecilie Marie Dahlhoff
Printed by Narayana Press, 2017
Graphic design by Anders Jensen