About a week has passed since the opening of MICHELANGELO IMPERFECT at SMK here in Copenhagen. It’s been a dream of mine to organize this show for about a decade, so I’m extremely grateful that the museum decided enthusiastically to support it and my work on it for the past two years or so. It’s been hard work, but also a pleasure to see it come together, to work with colleagues here in Copenhagen and abroad, not least at Factum Foundation, who have created ten new sculptures for the exhibition.

For, yes, this is an exhibition of reproductions after Michelangelo’s sculptures, based on the rich holdings of the long-neglected but astonishing Royal Cast Collection, part of SMK, and supplemented by these ten new high-quality facsimiles. Add to this about ten autograph drawings, four small sculptures and sculptural models and a selection of orginal bronze sculptueres borrowed from an array of international lenders. This makes it the most complete display of Michelangelo’s sculpture by the proxy of reproductions since the legendary 1875 anniversary show in Florence, and the biggest ever display of original works by Michelangelo in Denmark.

 

To me, it’s a close to unique opportunity to experience almost all of Michelangelo’s sculpture in one place, which I’ve found incredibly helpful. I’m learning new things about his work each time I visit, because the reproductions allow one to juxtapose, compare, contrast and synthesize in a way that would be impossible with the originals. The show is definitely en experiment and has and will continue to provoke mixed reactions, but to me it’s a reminder that copies and reproductions have always been an important part of art and the study and appreciation of it. It’s been a thrill also to gather the choice selection of rarely-exhibited sculptural models as well as drawings and documents relevant to Michelangelo’s creative work with sculpture for renewed insights into his working process and practice as a sculptor.

 

Come see it! It runs through 31 August. The catalogue, with contributions by Paola Franca Lorenzi, Charlotte Schreiter, Mari Lending, Laura Bagge Tommerup and Raymond Carlson, as well as myself, available in Danish and English is available from the SMK store and will soon be distributed internationally by Thames and Hudson.

 

For more on my thoughts on the show, read this profile at CNN Style.

 

Photos by Jakob Skou-Hansen