Jacolby Satterwhite, "A feeling of healing"

*English below

For første gang i Danmark har vi chancen for at opleve Jacolby Satterwhites glinsende, farvemættede verden i den todelte udstilling A Feeling of Healing, der strækker sig fra Holstebro til Roskilde.

Med afsæt i egne erfaringer har Satterwhite, gennem video, neon og virtual reality, designet et magisk frirum for queers, sorte og andre marginaliserede, der i hans digitale drømmeverden gør sig fri af samfundets normer og fordomme. Det sker på en rejse gennem computergenererede scener, natklubber og havkyster, hvor grænsen mellem virkelighed og fantasi bliver opløst. Måske er det netop det forløsende tankeeksperiment, der er brug for i en hverdag, hvor der til stadighed kun er snæver plads til at falde uden for normen – hvad enten det gælder hudfarve, kønsidentitet eller psykisk sygdom.

En rå nedlagt natklub i hjertet af Roskilde forvandles vinteren over til et sanseligt, symbolmættet univers, der udgør den første og primære del af udstillingen. Med greb fra videospil og inspiration fra popkultur, kunsthistorie og nigeriansk mytologi peger Satterwhite på, hvordan dans og musik kan være et skjold, der beskytter marginaliserede personer.

Udstillingens anden del finder sted i HFKD, hvor publikum præsenteres for en 24 minutter lang videokoncert, der bærer titlen: We Are in Hell When We Hurt Each Other (2020). I filmen giver Jacolby sorte kvinder agens og styrke og gør op med det hyperseksualiserede blik, som ofte har kunnet spores i kunsthistoriske motiver. Kvinderne indtager hovedrollen, og dansen bliver et rituelt modstandsværktøj mod en virkelighed fuld af vold og misrepræsentation.

Satterwhites mor var diagnosticeret med skizofreni og søgte fred i fantasiens verden, præcis som hendes søn nu finder ro i sit parallelle univers. Jacolby Satterwhite har omdannet sin mors tegninger fra hendes skizofrene perioder til gennemgående 3D-animationer, og hendes hjemmeindspilninger af hendes musik er blevet til elektroniske numre, der danner soundtracket til alle værkerne og giver morens beroligende stemme et guddommeligt allestedsnærværende islæt.

Kunstnerens værker tager form som videoinstallationer, og publikum glider helt ind i Satterwhites drømmeland gennem den virtuel reality-oplevelse, som udstillingen også byder på. I natklubbens mørke vises signaturværkerne: Shrines (2020), Birds in Paradise (2019) og Moments of Silence (2019). Alle udstillingens værker er en del af værkserien Birds in Paradise.

Jacolby Satterwhite (f. 1986, Columbia, South Carolina, USA) blev tildelt United States Artist Francie Bishop Good & David Horvitz Fellowship i 2016. Hans arbejde er inkluderet i blandt andre samlingerne på Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, Helsinki; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Studio Museum i Harlem, New York og Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. I 2019 samarbejdede Satterwhite med Solange Knowles på hendes visuelle album When I Get Home og med Perfume Genius i 2022 på hans album Ugly Season. Han blev tildelt en offentlig kunstkommission i samarbejde med Studio Museum i Harlem og Public Art Fund, som indvier Lincoln Centers nye David Geffen Hall, der åbnede i oktober 2022 i New York.

Læs mere om udstillingen i Roskilde her.
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For the first time in Denmark we have the chance to experience Jacolby Satterwhite's glistening, colour-saturated world in the two-part exhibition A Feeling of Healing, which stretches from Holstebro to Roskilde.

Based on his own experiences Satterwhite designs through video, neon, and virtual reality a magical, free space for queers, Blacks, and other marginalized people. In his digital dream world they free themselves from society's norms and prejudices. It happens on a journey through computer-generated scenes, nightclubs and seashores, where the boundary between reality and fantasy dissolves. Perhaps it is precisely this redemptive thought experiment that is needed in an everyday life with a relentlessly narrow space to fall outside the norm – whether it concerns skin color, gender identity, or mental illness.

Over the winter, an abandoned and rough nightclub in the heart of Roskilde is transformed into a sensuous universe filled with symbols and it forms the first and primary part of the exhibition. Taking cues from video games and inspiration from pop culture, art history, and Nigerian mythology Satterwhite points to how dance and music can be a shield that protects marginalized people.

The second part of the exhibition takes place in HFKD where the audience is presented with a 24-minute video concert entitled: We Are in Hell When We Hurt Each Other (2020). In the film, Jacolby gives black women agency and strength and rejects the hypersexualized look that has often been found in art historical motifs. The women take the lead role, and the dance becomes a ritual tool of resistance against a reality full of violence and misrepresentation.

Satterwhite's mother was diagnosed with schizophrenia and sought peace in the world of fantasy just as her son now finds peace in his parallel universe. Jacolby Satterwhite has transformed his mother's drawings from her schizophrenic periods into continuous 3D animations. Her home recordings of her music have become electronic tracks that form the soundtrack to all the works, giving his mother's soothing voice a divine omnipresence.

The artist's works take the form of video installations and the audience slips right into Satterwhite's dreamland through the virtual reality experience that the exhibition in Roskilde also offers. In the darkness of the nightclub the signature works are shown: Shrines (2020), Birds in Paradise (2019), and Moments of Silence (2019). All the works in the exhibition are part of the series Birds in Paradise.

Jacolby Satterwhite (b. 1986, Columbia, South Carolina, USA) was awarded the United States Artist Francie Bishop Good & David Horvitz Fellow-ship in 2016. His work is included in the collections of the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, Helsinki; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Studio Museum in Harlem, New York; and Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, among others. In 2019, Satterwhite collaborated with Solange Knowles on her visual album When I Get Home and with Perfume Genius in 2022 on his album Ugly Season. He was awarded a public art commission in collaboration with the Studio Museum in Harlem and the Public Art Fund to inaugurate the Lincoln Center’s new David Geffen Hall, debuting in October 2022 in New York.

Read more about the exhibition in Roskilde here.

Adresse:
HUSET FOR KUNST & DESIGN
Nørrebrogade 1
7500 Holstebro

Åbningstider:
Torsdag og fredag kl. 14.00 - 18.00
Lørdag og søndag kl. 12.00 -16.00
Gratis adgang



For mere information kontakt kunstnerisk leder Anna Margrethe Pedersen via e-mail:
info@hfkd.dk 

Udstillingsprogrammet på HFKD er generøst støttet af Færchfonden, 15. Juni Fonden, Statens Kunstfond, Det Obelske Familiefond, Augustinus Fonden og Holstebro Kommune.

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The program at HFKD is generously supported by Færchfonden, 15. Juni Fonden, The Danish Art Foundation, Det Obelske Familiefond, Augustinus Fonden and Holstebro Municipality.