Davidsen, who studied theology, is an artist whose process often starts with the creation of mind maps.
Cathrine Raben Davidsen,Slgten / Genus,2023.
Charcoal, chalk, gesso on shooting target paper.
Cathrine Raben Davidsen
A bisexual, he was one of the first Danes to die of AIDS.
All the works are made ten years after he died.
I wasnt ready, I didnt know anything when I was 13, she says.
Cathrine Raben Davidsen,Slægten / Genus,2023. Charcoal, chalk, gesso on shooting target paper.
I began painting as a way to connect to him because of the loss, and also the confusion.
Everything was a secret, and it was so shameful.
It can be uncomfortable to look at these early works.
Cathrine Raben Davidsen,Fars Røde Sweater,1996. Oil, charcoal, pencil on paper.
Cathrine Raben Davidsen,Fars Rde Sweater,1996.
Oil, charcoal, pencil on paper.
Cathrine Raben Davidsen,Angel (Mig og Far),1996.
Cathrine Raben Davidsen,Angel (Mig og Far),1996. Oil, charcoal, pencil on paper.
Oil, charcoal, pencil on paper.
Cathrine Raben Davidsen,I wanted to tell my Dad,1996.
Oil, charcoal, pencil on paper.
Cathrine Raben Davidsen,I wanted to tell my Dad,1996. Oil, charcoal, pencil on paper.
Cathrine Raben Davidsen,Blodhand,1996.
Cathrine is a very technically skilled painter, and she does create works that really make your heart jump.
But she has this other, more brutal side, which is maybe not always that obvious.
Cathrine Raben Davidsen,Blodhånd,1996.
We wanted to bring that side out more.
Cathrine Raben Davidsen,The Dark Night (III),2016.
I really am known for those pretty pieces, Davidsen admits.
Cathrine Raben Davidsen,The Dark Night (III),2016.
But I ve always been interested in what lies beneath and the dark stories.
Ive always been attracted to the darkness.
Is there finally room for female artists to show work that isnt conventionally beautiful?
Cathrine Raben Davidsen,Debris,2023.
I dont want to necessarily answer that, Davidsen responds.
I think actually Im more masculine than feminine in a sense, the way my brain works.
Laurberg has a more direct perspective.
Cathrine Raben Davidsen in Cecilie Bahnsen withCrater Scars,2023.
This was not done on purpose, as part of some evil plan.
Cathrine Raben Davidsen,Debris,2023.
It began around the pandemic time, when nature was taking over us humans, in a sense.
Cathrine Raben Davidsen,Crater Scars,2023. Oil on canvas.
Cathrine Raben Davidsen in Cecilie Bahnsen withCrater Scars,2023.
Cathrine Raben Davidsen,Crater Scars,2023.
When the viewers learned the title, Crater Scar, their opinions changed, says the artist.
Cathrine Raben Davidsen,Hånd,1996. Oil on canvas.
Cathrine Raben Davidsen,Hand,1996.
Give me your hand, is the closing line of the Rilke poem that guides the show.
Davidsens exhibition is similarly a lifeline.
Cathrine Raben Davidsen, Believer, 2016.
It might not always be easy to hold onto, but it offers a valuable and moving connection.
Cathrine Raben Davidsen, Believer, 2016.
Cathrine Raben Davidsen, 2024.
Cathrine Raben Davidsen, 2024.
Cathrine Raben Davidsens Let Everything Happen to You is up atCopenhagen Contemporaryfrom January 25 through May 4.
