95530_asger jorn_SMK_q8_r1_Layout 28/01/14 11.27 Page 1 ASGER JORN Restless Rebe l STATENS MUSEUM FOR KUNST COPENHAGEN PRESTEL MUNICH · LONDON · NEW YORK 95530_asger jorn_SMK_q8_r2_Layout 29/01/14 11.3811.37 Page 2 ASGER JORN RESTLESS REBEL NEW CARLSBERG FOUNDATION IS SUPPORTED BY C.L. DAVID FOUNDATION AND COLLECTION . JUNI FONDEN GEORGE JORCK AND EMMA JORCK FOUNDATION BECKETT FOUNDATION NOVO NORDISK FOUNDATION TOYOTA FOUNDATION GANGSTED FOUNDATION DANISH AGENCY FOR CULTURE 95530_asger jorn_SMK_q8__Layout 23/01/14 08.49 Page 3 ASGER JORN Restless Rebe l CONCEPT DORTHE AAGESEN AND HELLE BRØNS ARTICLES DORTHE AAGESEN RUTH BAUMEISTER HELLE BRØNS HAL FOSTER STEVEN HARRIS NIELS HENRIKSEN HENRIK HOLM KAREN KURCZYNSKI KLAUS MÜLLER*WILLE ROBERTO OHRT 95530_asger jorn_SMK_q8__Layout 23/01/14 08.49 Page 4 LENDERS ANNE & LARS OLESEN,S COLLECTION AROS AARHUS KUNSTMUSEUM BAYERISCHE STAATSGEMÄLDESAMMLUNGEN MÜNCHEN * PINAKOTHEK DER MODERNE BIRCH EYDE MØLLER FAMILY CANICA ART COLLECTION, OSLO CARL*HENNING PEDERSEN & ELSE ALFELTS MUSEUM, HERNING COBRA MUSEUM OF MODERN ART, AMSTELVEEN COLLECTION E. VAN ZUYLEN COLLECTION PIERRE & MICKY ALECHINSKY THE DANISH ART LIBRARY, COPENHAGEN DESIGNMUSEUM DANMARK, COPENHAGEN ESBJERG KUNSTMUSEUM FLUID ARCHIVES FÆNØ GODS HENIE ONSTAD KUNSTSENTER, HØVIKODDEN JACQUELINE DE JONG JENS OLESEN,S COLLECTION KAREN & FINN ERSKOVS SAMLING KUNSTEN MUSEUM OF MODERN ART, AALBORG KUNSTHALLE EMDEN KUNSTHALLE ZU KIEL LOUISIANA MUSEUM OF MODERN ART, HUMLEBÆK MONICA AND IB NYMARK HEGELUND MUSEO NACIONAL CENTRO DE ARTE REINA SOFÍA, MADRID MUSEUM BOIJMANS VAN BEUNINGEN, ROTTERDAM MUSEUM JORN, SILKEBORG NIELS COLLECTION, BRUSSELS RANDERS KUNSTMUSEUM THE ROYAL LIBRARY, COPENHAGEN SILKEBORG BIBLIOTEKERNE S.M.A.K., STEDELIJK MUSEUM VOOR ACTUELE KUNST, GHENT SOLOMON R. GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM, NEW YORK STAATLICHE MUSEEN ZU BERLIN, KUPFERSTICHKABINETT STAATLICHE MUSEEN ZU BERLIN, NATIONALGALERIE STEDELIJK MUSEUM, AMSTERDAM TATE, LONDON TROELS JORN,S COLLECTION THE WORKERS, MUSEUM AND THE LABOUR MOVEMENT LIBRARY AND ARCHIVE AND PRIVATE LENDERS WHO WISH TO REMAIN ANONYMOUS 95530_asger jorn_SMK_q8__Layout 23/01/14 09.0708.49 Page 5 CONTENTS FOREWORD PETER NØRGAARD LARSEN [01] INTRODUCTION HELLE BRØNS AND DORTHE AAGESEN [02] ASGER JORN IN, ON AND ABOUT SURREALISM STEVEN HARRIS [03] ART FOR THE PEOPLE DORTHE AAGESEN [04] FROM WORD)PICTURES TO THE WILD ARCHITECTURE OF THE BOOK KLAUS MÜLLER*WILLE [05] HUMAN BEASTS HAL FOSTER [06] FOLK ART, SCIENCE FICTION AND THE MATTER OF PAINTING HELLE BRØNS [07] A THING FINISHED IS A THING DEAD RUTH BAUMEISTER [08] FIN DES MODIFICATIONS ROBERTO OHRT [09] AN ABSTRACT ART THAT DOES NOT BELIEVE IN ABSTRACTION KAREN KURCZYNSKI [10] VANDALIST REVIVAL: ASGER JORN+S ARCHAEOLOGY NIELS HENRIKSEN [11 ] POKING TONGUES HENRIK HOLM BIOGRAPHY ANNA VESTERGAARD JØRGENSEN WORKS IN THE EXHIBITION BIBLIOGRAPHY THE AUTHORS PHOTO CREDITS COLOPHON 95530_asger jorn_SMK_q8__Layout 23/01/14 09.07 Page 6 95530_asger jorn_SMK_q8__Layout 23/01/14 09.07 Page 7 95530_asger jorn_SMK_q8__Layout 23/01/14 09.0708.49 Page 8 FOREWORD In recent decades, Asger Jorn’s art and thinking has generated renewed and growing interest in Denmark and abroad, and his central role within European post-war art is becoming firmly established. The centenary of Jorn’s birth on 3 March 2014 is the occasion prompting the SMK and Museum Jorn in Silkeborg to commemorate the artist by presenting two major ex - hibitions and two books. For both museums, the intentions reach much further than simply to celebrate Jorn as a major figure in Danish art and culture. The objective is to appraise his art in a nuanced manner, based on the most recent art historical research, and to create a solid basis for reassessing his importance as a major figure within 20 th century art history. In its capacity as the National Gallery of Denmark, the SMK puts emphasis on arranging large-scale monographic exhibitions featuring important artists in Danish art his tory. In recent years, the museum has shown special exhibitions that highlight artists such as Laurits Andersen Ring, Nicolai Abildgaard, and Wilhelm Freddie. But apart from a relatively small-scale exhibition of Jorn’s prints shown at the Royal Collection of Graphic Arts in 1976, this event marks the first time that the SMK truly engages with Jorn’s art. His anniversary provides a welcome occasion to finally, through this major, research-based exhi - bition and book project, put Jorn on the agenda, presenting his work on an expansive scale. Right from the outset, it was obvious that the exhibition could not be realised without entering into close interplay with Museum Jorn, which possesses a large collection of Jorn’s works, extensive archives, and considerable expert insights. The co-operation between the two museums led to the planning of two closely co-ordinated exhibitions and books, each of which adopts its own distinctive perspective as it unfolds significant aspects of the artist’s body of work. Both approaches mark a break away from a traditional, biographically founded perception of Jorn’s work and the prevailing focus on painting that has characterised past exhibitions. While the SMK presents Jorn’s art in a monographic retrospective that includes all facets of his artistic production, including Jorn’s work as a theorist, Museum Jorn shows a dialogical exhibition that presents Jorn’s art alongside works by other artists who served Jorn as sources of inspiration and collaborative partners. The duality between the individual and the collective is a central aspect of Jorn’s artistic project. On the one hand, his art is based on the personal mode of expression that he believed was fundamental to human ex - perience, while on the other hand, it is founded on social co-operation, which held an equally important position within his overall endeavour. Thus, the two exhibitions take their point of departure in different, but equally fundamental principles at play in Jorn’s work, and they can be regarded as presentations that complement and supplement each other, combining to outline a more complete picture of Jorn’s art than a single exhibition could. Any project of this magnitude requires the help and engagement of many individuals and institutions. First of all, we at the SMK wish to thank our colleagues at Museum Jorn for 95530_asger jorn_SMK_q8__Layoutjorn_SMK_q8_r1_Layout 23/01/14 28/01/14 09.07 10.36 Page Page 9 9 many months of intense sparring, particularly the museum’s Director Jacob Thage, Curator Karen Friis, Guest Curator Karen Kurczynski, and others from the museum staff who have helped us with matters big and small, including Lars Bay, Lars Hamann, Teresa Østergaard Ped ersen, and Elisabeth Wildt. We also wish to extend our warm thanks to the artist’s son Troels Jorn for his great support and interest throughout the preparatory process. Thanks are also due to the authors presented in the present book; several of them offered important input in the ongoing discussions while the exhibition was still under development, and the new thoughts and ideas presented in their pioneering texts add gravitas and nuance to this project. At the SMK, the overall curatorial and research responsibility for the project resided with Curator and Senior Researcher Dorthe Aagesen, ably assisted by PhD Fellow Helle Brøns. The exhibition itself was created in close co-operation with the exhibition architect Pernille Jensen, while the multi-faceted presentation and educational materials were entrusted to Mathilde Schytz Marvit and Louise Springborg. Anna Vestergaard Jørgensen provided in - valu able assistance throughout the preparation of the exhibition, presentation materials, and publication. Amongst the many people who have assisted us in various ways we also wish to give our special thanks to: Troels Andersen, Ole Arent, Tracey Bashkoff, Anette Birch, Luca Bochicchio, Lene Borch, Hilde de Bruijn, Claus Carstensen, Tom Christoffersen, Danilo Demi, Steinar Gjessing, Axel Heil, Per Hovdenakk, Jacqueline de Jong, Anders Kold, Peter Laugesen, Marie-José van de Loo, Anna von Lowzow, Giovanni and Piero Poggi, Niels Raben, Birger Raben-Skov, Rebecca Rabinow, Dominique Radrizzani, Bart Rutten, Knut Stene-Johansen, Christian Vind, Katja Weitering, Sylvie Wuhrmann, and Lis Zwick. Ultimately, the success of any exhibition is determined by the loans it can attract. We wish to thank the many museums and art collectors in Denmark, Belgium, Brazil, France, Ger many, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, Spain, the UK, and the USA who have gen erously made their works available to the exhibition. One last crucial factor for the realisation of the exhibition and book project is the monetary support provided by enterprises and foundations. First of all, we wish to direct our warmest thanks to the Augustinus Foundation, which is the main sponsor of the exhi - bition. We also wish to thank the Novo Nordisk Foundation, the New Carlsberg Foundation, the Danish Agency for Culture, the C.L. David Foundation and Collection, 15. Juni Fonden, George Jorck and Emma Jorck Foundation, the Beckett Foundation, the Toyota Foundation, and the Gangsted Foundation, all of which have helped enable us to translate our many ambitions and wishes into reality. Peter Nørgaard Larsen Head of Collections and Research 95530_asger jorn_SMK_q8__Layout 23/01/14 09.07 Page 10 95530_asger jorn_SMK_q8__Layout 23/01/14 09.07 Page 11 95530_asger jorn_SMK_q8__Layout 23/01/14 09.0708.49 Page 12 [0 1] IT HAS NEVER INTERESTED ME TO GO, UNLESS I COULD GO TO THE EXTREMES INTRODUCTION “We need a Ministry of Disturbance, a regulated source of annoyance, a destroyer of routine, an underminer of complacency, or, in other words, a ministry of aesthetic activity.” 1 HELLE BRØNS AND DORTHE AAGESEN Statements such as this are typical of Jorn in every way. It is startling, surprising, and humorously worded, but at the same time Jorn is being perfectly serious. To Jorn, art was a question of using creativity to interact with and intervene in the world. Art should challenge existing notions and norms, thereby creating opportunities for understanding the world in new ways.