Opentoday: 11:00 – 17:00
Billedbarrikader Joachim Koester og EB Itso_Foto Sorø Kunstmuseum
Temporary exhibition

The Barricaded Picture

To see or not to see - that's the question in our present exhibition 'The Barricaded Picture', which shows contemporary works of art by international artists.
Temporary exhibition

Every day we encounter images that demand to be seen. The works in ‘The Barricaded Picture’ are different. They barricade themselves from our gaze. They keep something hidden; they cover up or obstruct our view. However, at the same time, they stimulate our visual curiosity. In many different ways, the works examine aesthetic, social and political meanings of the barricade motif. 

The power that can be exercised by exposing or hiding something from the gaze of others has turned images into a battlefield for freedom of expression, religious discussions, advertising and propaganda. Hence, the tensions between the seen and the unseen, between what is revealed and what is covered up have always been a driving force in the visual arts. 

Pandemic lockdowns and social distancing have taught us the consequences of only being able to see the world through a window and each other through a screen. The war in Ukraine has brought images of barricaded cities into our collective consciousness, and in Iran, part of the rebellion manifests itself in a struggle for power to control who gets to see what when.

Obscuring and barricading the gaze as well as the power and underlying visual desire are focal points for this exhibition. 

Nine internationally renowned contemporary artists participate in the exhibition: Anne-Mette Schultz (DK), E.B. Itso (DK), Joachim Koester (DK), Marie Lund (DK) Per Kirkeby (DK) Pernille With Madsen (DK), Samaneh Roghani (IR), Shirin Sabahi (IR) and Tal R (DK). 

The exhibition is curated by Helle Brøns and supported by: Aage og Johanne Louis-Hansens Fond, A.P. Møller Fonden, Beckett-Fonden, Statens Kunstfond and Brand af 1848 Fond.