Danish Art and Culture: The Jutlanders

My EVS project is primarily a café that offers employment for people diagnosed with mental illness. Apart from that it also provides space for all sorts of cultural events, called ‘arrangementer’ (loaned from French, but the horribly corrupted Danish pronunciation makes it sound like ‘arrangshemanger’). One of the regular things we run is an exhibition of art works and craft items in the café area. This display changes every two months and gives local artists an opportunity to showcase and sell their work. Being an aspiring photographer and generally an artsy person myself, of course I asked if I could get involved.

Featured in the current March/April exhibition are a collective of visual artists who call themselves "Jyderne" – The Jutlanders. All of them come from around here, the Vestjylland region around the Limfjord, middle-aged gentlemen with strong ‘jysk’ accents. Six separate group members contribute to the content of the show, covering a wide range of subjects and styles. Everything from sketched charcoal portraits to abstract oil paintings in strong colours and crayon/watercolour landscapes is represented.
I particularly like Niels Steen Sørensen’s paintings that he produced during a residency in Greenland. Dominated by blues and whites, his detailed, finely glazed landscapes show ragged icebergs and glistening plains of water. The central piece, titled ‘the alpha dog’, features silhouettes of three sledgedogs, ghostly and translucent, evoking a strong impression of speed and motion.
The works of the sculptor Hendrik Voldmester also impress me. His heavy bronze sculptures are moulded to look like seahorses and are characterised by a beautiful simplicity, inviting to be touched. 
The natural world, especially the local scenery, seems to be a principal inspiration to all of the group members. The marine theme is hardly surprising, considering that no place in Denmark is further from the sea than 52km. A strong bond with this environment, the artists’ home, radiates from the pieces in the exhibition. The diversity of motifs, brought together by the shared background of the artists’ personal history, forms a compelling cross-section of personalised impressions of Jutland.

This connection is especially relevant if one takes into account that several group members went to art school in the capital, unarguably the cultural epicentre of Denmark. But unlike many other artists, they decided to return after completing their studies to open small galleries and studios in the idyllic countryside. Though maybe not as spectacular as the landscapes further north that compelled the Skagen painters in the late 19th century, Western Jutland has inspired an active community of artists with a rich historical legacy.