Basel Profile: Martin Asbæk Projects

Martin Asbæk and kopenhagens Ane Bülow at the Martin Asbæk Projects stand at Voltashow 02

Why are you here?

Well of course I’m here to represent Simone Aaberg Kærn. If you want to feed through as an artist today you have to participate I these fairs. I thought that the VOLTA fair had a really good profile with strong international and American galleries attending. I was encouraged to apply with a solo show for Simone Aaberg Kærn and the response has been excellent both from people here and form the media. It’s perfectly understandable since Simones project is indeed very interesting. And since she worked on it for four years it has also become a quite weighty project. What you see here is a very compressed version of the overall project, which incidentally is being exhibited right now at Malmö Konsthall (SE), ending august 20th.

Simone Aaberg Kærns works at the Martin Asbæk Projects stand

Is it you ambition to participate in ArtBasel some time soon?

Well my gallery is quite young so for the time being I’m happy with VOLTA, but next year I’ll most likely apply for ArtBasel - possibly with a one-man show. ArtBasel is the superior fair and will continue to be so. I’m really pleased with VOLTA though and I’ve seen all the collectors here. A lot of the galleries are showing artists who are completely unknown and then for instance one artist whose name is more established. That creates an excellent mixture which is very inspiring.

Have you spotted any new artistic tendencies?

No, there are no tendencies. They go in all directions. Here at VOLTA though, there seems to be a slight over-representation of painting as opposed to photography and installation. Regretfully I cannot speak of the other fairs since I simply haven’t had the time to visit them apart from “Art Unlimited” which is amazing and highly recommendable. However, I find – and everyone seems to agree - that the level here at VOLTA is extremely high so I strongly suggest everyone to come have a look. •

Simone Aaberg Kærns works at the Martin Asbæk Projects stand		Simone Aaberg Kærns works at the Martin Asbæk Projects stand
Simone Aaberg Kærns works at the Martin Asbæk Projects stand		Simone Aaberg Kærns works at the Martin Asbæk Projects stand

About Simone Aaberg Kærn

Over the past ten years, Simone Aaberg Kærn has had the sky and flight as her recurring theme in a series of videos, installations, and works of performance art – often in combination with a historical and social representation of the woman as subject. Her theme is the battle for free airspace and our dream of being able to fly – of looking up to the sky and just taking off. Aaberg Kærn has done just that – she has flown her own plane right into the war zone in Afghanistan. The plane was a forty-year-old single-engine Piper Colt 108.