Play is not a break from reality—it is a way of creating it. With the exhibition PLAY!, Museum Jorn explores the same dynamics are also present in art.
Art invites us to reflect on ourselves, on others, on society, and on the world around us. Together, play and art open up new possibilities for curiosity meaning 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, experiment with ideas, fail, laugh, build, and create communities. Many of these same dynamics are also present in art. Art invites us to reflect on ourselves, on others, on society, and on the world around us. Together, play and art open up new possibilities for curiosity, learning, and participation.
With PLAY!, Museum Jorn highlights the relationship between play and art from both historical and contemporary perspectives. The exhibition begins with Asger Jorn’s playful and experimental approach to art and unfolds through works from the Museum Jorn collection, international loans, and newly commissioned contemporary artworks created specifically for the exhibition.
The exhibition features artists whose practices engage with participation, interaction, and playful artistic formats. Visitors will encounter works by Jake Chapman, Misaki Kawai, Paul McCarthy, Mika Rottenberg, Søren Dahlgaard, and Pipilotti Rist.
Several of the works have been created especially for PLAY!, inviting audiences to become active participants in the exhibition experience. These participatory contemporary artworks are presented alongside works by artists such as Alexander Calder, Marcel Duchamp, Dorothea Tanning, Niki de Saint Phalle, and Asger Jorn, all of whom, throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, have embraced play as a method, a subject, and a fundamental strategy within their artistic practice.
