Articles and Features
The 10 Most Read Interviews in 2018
A long list of inspiring people captured our readers’ attention in 2018. Artists, collectors, gallerists and curators have generously shared their thoughts on art and its ability to question the status quo, drive new ways of thinking and make the world unfold in new aesthetic, challenging, mesmerizing and thought-provoking ways. Take another look at some of the most powerful interviews from 2018, which each in their own way helped us see the world through new eyes.
Gardar Eide Einarsson
Artist
Tokyo-based Norwegian artist Gardar Eide Einarsson is drawn to the cracks in societies, somewhere in between where the establishment ends and the individual’s impulse to question authorities prevails. In his visual poetics of recontextualisation, Einarsson uses found imagery to explore the power structures in society and the negotiation between the individual and the state. He captures the extremes of the zeitgeist by observing how the world is constantly negotiated between those in control and those being repressed, yet this never goes at the expense of humour. We had the pleasure of speaking with Gardar Eide Einarsson on the occasion of the opening of his fifth solo exhibition “TOTAL CONTROL ZONE” at Nils Stærk in Copenhagen.
Read the interview here.
Tuva Trondsdatter Trønsdal
Gallery director of GOLSA
The gallery directors of GOLSA, Gard Eiklid (b. 1991) and Tuva Trondsdatter Trønsdal (b. 1993), might be newcomers on Oslo’s art scene, some would even say outsiders, but they definitely do not lack ambitions. As the new kids on the block, they are not afraid to navigate the art of running a gallery in new ways, the keywords being transparency and education. Or put in their own words: “We usually say that since we don’t know how to run a gallery – we have a bigger chance to do something different!”. Read about how the ambitious Norwegian duo embrace the potential of being rookies in an old, at times stuffy art world in this in-depth interview with Tuva Trondsdatter Trønsdal. This is the story about the transformation of one of Norway’s most prominent galleries.
Read the interview here.
Mikkel Carl
Artist, writer and freelance curator
The artist, writer, and freelance curator Mikkel Carl has become somewhat of a brand on the contemporary art scene. With a BA in continental philosophy, it wasn’t in the cards, but as one of his recent works Pick a Card Any Card, 2018 reveals (upon purchase buyers will draw a gold-plated playing card at random), it is not obvious how life turns out. This is the story of a Danish multitasker and the accumulation of activities that ended up constituting a brand: Mikkel Carl.
Read the interview here.
Sara Lysgaard
Art collector
A conversation with art collector Sara Lysgaard as part of the Art First Series, which zooms in on a selection of people who literally put art first, letting their lives unfold with, in-between and through art. The Art First Series features strong voices who share their ideas about why art matters to them, having become a crucial part of their existence. By introducing a new way to think and speak about art, Art First seeks to foster a new conversation about art and its vital importance in today’s society.
Read the interview here.
Asger Dybvad Larsen
Artist
With roots in the quiet, peripheral landscape of Denmark and parents working as psychologists, Danish artist Asger Dybvad Larsen has found himself absorbed in a space of reflection from an early age. A space of looking inward and reflecting on the process of coming into being, which has also become a defining element in his art. In this interview, Asger Dybvad Larsen contemplates his own practice and how it leads him to challenge the way he works with colour, form, scale and not least the process itself – a constant inconstant in his art and in his life!
Read the interview here.
Mette Woller
Curator
In the days between June 30th – July 7th, Roskilde Festival 2018 transformed a flat field with the size of 350 soccer fields into a mecca for creativity, bringing more than 130.000 people together in a shared space of “feeling”. Be it a moment of bliss during a concert, in a fiery debate about equality, or by engaging with the impressive art programme that once again stresses the importance of art as a means to create experiences and challenge the status quo. In an exclusive interview, Mette Woller, the head curator at the time, gave insights into the art programme of 2018 and the need to give a voice to artists from all around the world. As she puts it herself: “Art is essential for the world to go on”.
Read the interview here.
Marta Gnyp and Giovanni Springmeier
Founder and co-partner of Gnyp Gallery
Meet the power duo behind Gnyp Gallery, Marta Gnyp and Giovanni Springmeier, who never fail to take a stance on the current art scene, be it as advisors, authors, collectors, or, not least, gallerists. With two gallery spaces in Berlin, they invite a worldwide audience to engage with art that responds to the Zeitgeist, constantly adding new layers to the history of art and to the lives of individuals, who wholeheartedly embrace art – be it for a moment or an entire lifetime.
Read the interview here.
Danby Choi
Art collector, editor and art critic
Danby Choi perceived art as straight up boring, when he was a kid. But somehow, down the line, this changed drastically. Today, he enjoys the daily pleasure of art as an art collector – in addition to his job as editor and publisher of the Norwegian critical cultural magazine Subjekt and art critic at the national newspaper Aftenposten. Determined to raise the public’s awareness on art and its value to the society at large, he is way beyond ‘stage boring’. Life has its mysterious ways… this interview provides a glimpse into the life and art collection of Danby Choi.
Read the interview here.
Mie Olise Kjærgaard
Artist
A conversation with artist Mie Olise Kjærgaard as part of the Art First Series, which zooms in on a selection of people who literally put art first, letting their lives unfold with, in-between and through art. The Art First Series features strong voices who share their ideas about why art matters to them, having become a crucial part of their existence. By introducing a new way to think and speak about art, Art First seeks to foster a new conversation about art and its vital importance in today’s society.
Read the interview here.
Patricia Lara
Founder and director of The RYDER Projects
The world of literature led Patricia Lara, founder and director of The RYDER Projects, into the world of art, allowing her to fully embrace human creativity in its most tangible form. Since her first steps into the art world, her ambition to create dialogue around art and its interplay with contemporary society has only grown stronger. With the opening of her London-based gallery The RYDER Projects in 2015, she constantly aims to display works of art relevant to our times, whether they are easy to sell or not. Meet Patricia Lara, an ambitious gallerist led by intuition rather than the desire “to make a quick buck.”
Read the interview here.