Louisiana Museum in Denmark hosts the first solo exhibition of Olafur Eliasson (b. 1967, Copenhagen) with the evocative title Riverbed. The striking art venue placed on the cost in the north of Copenhagen offers its unique spaces – a perfect synthesis among works, architecture and landscapes – to the Danish/Icelandic artist who created a site-specific project that looks into the relation between art and nature. According to Eliasson’s inclination to conceive complex, large-scale immersive works, the three-section exhibition presents Riverbed (2014), a central installation made of wet stones, which cover the floors of the entire South Wing turning it into a rocky slippery scenery with a stream of water that totally changes the perception of the galleries, inviting visitors to walk and enjoy the museum in a different way.
Another reflection on the body’s movement in space is present in the three videos of the second section: Movement microscope (2011), where we see dancers in Eliasson’s studio blurring with the everyday working activities; Your embodied garden (2013), the artist’s exploration of a Chinese garden though the minimal movements of choreographer Steen Koerner; Innen Stadt Aussen (2010), a double portrait of Berlin in motion; while the third section presents Model Room (2003) – an essential work of the artist – repeatedly adapted to match the situation, consisting of around 400 prismatic models employed by the artist to develop his projects.
Olafur Eliasson’s poetics is strictly influenced by the peculiarities of the surroundings and plays with natural elements and lights with unpredictable effects, creating myriads of refractions that transform the perception of art spaces and the viewers’ fruition of artworks. Stripped from superstructures, Eliasson’s works aim at generating an intimate relation with people, who are allowed to discover all the devices behind them, making the experience more authentic and open. Riverbed will run until 4th January 2015.
