PLAY!

Play is not a break from reality, it is a way of creating it. With the exhibition PLAY!, Museum Jorn explores the significance of play in art and art as a space for play.

Play is a fundamental part of being human. When we play, we enter the realm of imagination, test ideas, fail, laugh, build, and create communities. Many of the same forces are at work in art. Art encourages us to reflect on ourselves, on others, and on the society and world around us. Together, play and art open up possibilities for curiosity, learning, and participation.

With PLAY!, Museum Jorn highlights the connection between play and art – both historically and in the present day. The exhibition takes its offset in Asger Jorn’s playful and experimental approach to art and unfolds through works from Museum Jorn’s own collection, international loans, and new contemporary works created specifically for the exhibition.

The exhibition presents artists who work with participation, interaction, and playful artistic formats. Visitors can experience works by Gelitin, Jake Chapman, Mika Rottenberg, Misaki Kawai, Paul McCarthy, Pipilotti Rist, and Søren Dahlgaard. Several works have been created especially for PLAY!, inviting visitors to become active participants in the exhibition.

The participatory contemporary art is complemented by artists such as Alexander Calder, Marcel Duchamp, Dorothea Tanning, Niki de Saint Phalle, and Asger Jorn, who throughout the 20^th and 21^st centuries employed play as method, motif, and strategy in their artistic practices.

The exhibition has been made possible through generous support from the Aage og Johanne-Louis Hansens Fond, The A.P. Moller Foundation, Augustinus Fonden, Det Obelske Familiefond, Jorck’s Fond, Lemvigh-Müller Fonden, Nordjyllandsfonden, The New Carlsberg Foundation and Ege Carpets.