Today, Kunstkritikk launches a series of essays about Nordic art in the 2010s. We have asked Scandinavian writers, critics, and curators to share their reflections on artworks, oeuvres, themes, and trends from the 2010s. Their attempts to respond (as is known, the word essay comes from the French essai, meaning attempt, try, or trial) will be published during the coming months. The selected contributors are Anders Kreuger, Ane Hjort Guttu, Anne Szefer Karlsen, Kim West, Mathias Danbolt, Rhea Dall, Sinziana Ravini, Toke Lykkeberg, and Tommy Olsson.
“Nordic art” is not an unproblematic or straightforward category. Nor is an arbitrarily defined time span such as the 2010s meaningful in and of itself. Strictly speaking, we have given our contributors an impossible task by asking them to summarize the last ten years in Nordic art and the conversations which surrounded it. Impossible questions can yield interesting answers, however, and we hope this essay series will be the beginning of a wider-ranging discussion.
In our invitation, we encouraged contributors to discuss contemporary art in light of social and political events, but also on art’s own material and aesthetic terms; we asked them to consider the big picture and specific examples, artistic work and its critical reception. Each essay will be lavishly illustrated and published in Scandinavian languages as well as English.
First off the block is Swedish critic Kim West, whose essay ‘The Long 2010s’ analyses art from the previous decade in relation to the ideology of total digital databases.
All nine essays in the series will be published here: Nordic art in the 2010s.
Kunstkritikk’s essay series about Nordic art in the 2010s is supported by Fritt Ord.
