I’LL SEE MYSELF OUT — Anna Walther and Olivia Rode Hvass at Kunsthal Nord Aalborg

I’ll see myself out

Anna Walther and Olivia Rode Hvass

Curated by Cathrine Gamst

At Kunsthal Nord, Aalborg, Denmark

June 04 — July 16, 2022

Photography by Jesper Olsen

“I’ll see myself out” thematizes boundaries, problematic systems and posits that the decision to leave a situation is sometimes the best – and only – solution.

The exhibition combines works by Anna Walther and Olivia Rode Hvass in a single narrative. The main works in the show is a grand scale handbag, in the size of a small car, created by Anna Walther, and a digitally woven series of tapestries created by Olivia Rode Hvass.

Anna Walther’s handbag sculpture stands as a metaphor for what we carry with us of luggage. The handbag is historically, a symbol of women’s ability to move freely, independent of accompaniment. The handbag remains a class and status symbol with great communicative power. Through her works, Anna Walther explores the expectations we have for women’s appearance in modern society. The message from the artist is: Grab your handbag and run! Run away from all the negative admonitions about what is right and wrong.

Olivia Rode Hvass’ series of digitally woven tapestries, completed in a site-specific total installation, in Kunsthal Nord’s first room. The tapestries are inspired by the mysterious medieval fantasies of the Hunt og the Unicorn (La Chasse à la licorne), a series of tapestries dating to 1495-1505, originally depicting French noble hunters capturing an exotic unicorn. The original story celebrates the conquest of the “exotic”/the virgin by the hunter/the man. In Olivia Rode Hvass’ series, the horse is the main character, and here the escape from the unhealthy systems and relationships end up with the horses running free. It is a series of works that communicate a hope for a future that does away with societal roles, gender stereotypes and structural oppression.

— Kunsthal Nord