Louise Bonde-Hansen: Neither Day nor Night
With the exhibition ”Neither Day nor Night”, Louise Bonde-Hansen is preoccupied with creating spaces that have a healing and redemptive effect. She is fascinated by memories and utopias – as well as by kitsch but without any ironic distance. At the Upper Gallery of Nikolaj Kunsthal, Louise Bonde-Hansen shows her first institutional solo exhibition; a sacred free space that offers a mix of materials guarded by a handful of St. Bernard dogs.
Louise Bonde-Hansen grew up in the Nørrebro district of Copenhagen, where she often spent time in the company of her grandparents. Her grandmother produced dentures from her own dental clinic at home, and her grandfather was a ship’s cook. Memories of the grandparents’ flat can often be found in Louise Bonde-Hansen’s works, for example the leaded windows that bathed the grandmother’s study in elevated light as well as a neighbour who owned just under a handful of full-grown St. Bernard dogs.
Security’s Watchdog
The St. Bernard dog is a central motif for Louise Bonde-Hansen. As a symbol of protection and named after the monk Bernard de Menthon who in the year 980 built a monastery and hostel in the Alps between Italy and Switzerland. The furry sculptures are inspired by the family film ”Beethoven” and a series of cartoons, where the teddy bear dog with a whiskey barrel around its neck rescues strays in the snow. A number of ancient patron motifs also appear in the exhibition – not least the dolphin, which in ancient Greek actually means ‘womb’.
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Where: Upper Gallery
When: 10/2 – 7/5 2023
