SØREN DAHLGAARD

(DK)

Søren Dahlgaard (born 1973 in Sorgenfri, Denmark) is a Danish artist based in Copenhagen, known for his socially engaged art that explores the absurd, playful, and often humorous aspects of everyday life. Dahlgaard holds a BA (Hons) from Slade School of Fine Arts, University College London (2002), and completed a practice-led PhD at The Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne, in 2019. His doctoral research introduced the concept of "sculpture as an activating object" and explored how sculptural objects can activate transformation through play.

One of Dahlgaard's early and most well-known projects is Hibalhidhoo Vegetable Farm (2002) on the Maldives. He established a vegetable farm on the island of Hibalhidhoo as part of a conceptual artwork, focusing on sustainability, self-sufficiency, and community resilience in a climate challenged by a lack of freshwater and nutrient-rich soil. The project was exhibited at the National Gallery of the Maldives and became a success, with local vegetable production increasing and reducing imports.

In 2007, Dahlgaard created his alter ego The Dough Warrior, where he performed wearing a costume made from 70 kg of dough. This project was presented at art fairs and museums such as Louisiana Museum and Statens Museum for Kunst, and Dahlgaard described it as an exploration of new ways to create paintings, where his body functioned as a brush.

In 2008, Dahlgaard debuted The Dough Portraits, an interactive art series where participants had their faces covered with a large lump of dough. The result was unconventional portraits that challenged traditional ideas of identity and portraiture. The series was exhibited at numerous museums and biennials worldwide, including Statens Museum for Kunst and the Venice Biennale.

Dahlgaard has also addressed political and environmental themes in projects like The Maldives Exodus Caravan Show(2013), which he curated and presented at the Venice Biennale. The exhibition, which featured artists such as Superflex and Rirkrit Tiravanija, focused on migration and climate change. In 2021, he created The Human Cannonball, a performative artwork in which an artist, dipped in paint, is shot out of a cannon to create paintings, exploring the relationship between process and artwork.

Dahlgaard's works are part of several public collections, including KIASMA Museum of Contemporary Art, Museu Arte Rio, Statens Kunstfond, and Randers Kunstmuseum. His art has been exhibited globally and is known for combining humor, play, and seriousness in its critique of society and the institutions within which he works.