April 22, 2017 – August 27, 2017
"The mask is an instrument that allows one to change identity. Covering one’s face one can become another, escape the human condition, change the outer layer of one’s body and enter into the skin of a divine being or that of an animal."
Jean-Hubert Martin, curator
Masks and transformed identities
The Eye in the Mask is curated by the internationally renowned Jean-Hubert Martin and based on his exhibition concept.
The exhibition takes the shape of a dialogue between a series of ethnographical masks and the mask motifs of art from the 1940s and until today. The exhibition’s ethnographical masks are made available courtesy of His Royal Highness Prince Henrik and Bitten Damgaard’s private collections, respectively, while the masks of art are represented by works of the CoBrA artists Carl-Henning Pedersen, Asger Jorn, and Ernest Mancoba.
They are joined in the exhibition by several international contemporary artists whose art continues to reflect on the transforming and empowering abilities of physical and symbolic masks: Romuald Hazoumé from Benin, Shen Yuan from China, Charles Fréger from France, and Antony Gormley from Great Britain.
Throughout the ages, masks in social and religious rituals have served to transform the identity of their bearers, to equip us with extraordinary, animalistic, or divine powers. By covering our faces we become someone or something else, escape the limitations of our daily lives, and possibly even transcend our human identity.
Masks, normally carved out of wood, constitute the last remaining relic of a costume that completely covers the skin, sometimes leaving only the bearer’s eye visible. Looking out through a small opening, the eye of the mask – this “third eye” – takes on an unusual expressiveness.
With its approximately 2000 m2 The Eye in the Mask covers all of Carl-Henning Pedersen & Else Alfelt’s Museum along with the surrounding area. The exhibition is based on Jean-Hubert Martin’s concept where changing lights allow masks of different cultures and ages to alternately appear and recede into darkness – a myriad of faces that bear witness to the undiminished identity-transforming power of the mask through history.
A part of Socle du Monde 2017
In 2017, Carl-Henning Pedersen & Else Alfelt’s Museum is a co-organizer of the 7th Art Biennale, Socle du Monde.
The Eye in the Mask is the museum’s conribution to the Biennale and its take on the Biennale’s 2017 theme, “to turn the world upside down”.
Visit the Socle du Monde website
Disabled visitors
Please note that, due to the special character of some of the installations, only parts of our current exhibition, THE EYE IN THE MASK, are wheelchair accessible.
THE EXHIBITION HAS BEEN MADE POSSIBLE THROUGH FINANCIAL SUPPORT BY: Augustinus Fonden, Det Obelske Familiefond, ege, Knud Højgaards Fond, Nordea Fonden, Ny Carlsberg Fondet, Oda og Hans Svenningsens Fond, Bestseller Retail Europe A/S, Carl-Henning Pedersens Fond, Carl-Henning Pedersen og Sidsel Ramsons Fond, Statens Kunstfond, Aarhus 2017, Herning Kommune, Børnehjælpsdagen, Institut Français, KPC, Møbeltransport Danmark, Sydbank, Testmanden.
THE EXHIBITION IS ORGANIZED BY: Carl-Henning Pedersen & Else Alfelt's Museum in cooperation with HEART - Herning Museum of Contemporary Art, Jean-Hubert Martin (curator), Aarhus 2017 - European Capital of Culture.