Monika Larsen Dennis

Millesgården, Stockholm
Through February 25

Rich carpet fringes of steel needles rise from two plates on the floor, one in front of the other. As if made for two masochist lovers standing face to face, the piece is called Place Forever Lying (1999). As in life and love, the bottom line of Monika Larsen Dennis’ show is vulnerability.

Whether working with photography, video, or sculpture, Larsen Dennis creates her effects based on tactile sensations. You may not only look, you are also generously invited to touch her steel and marble sculptures; to feel their smooth, polished surfaces. You can bury your arms deeply into two holes in a huge marble block for a soft embrace (The Hug, 2000), or lean knees, forehead, and chin against an altar-like marble piece for soothing comfort in a work aptly entitled (2000).

A couple of handcuffs in steel and marble are attached to the walls, ready to hold your wrists if you dare to try them on. Raising the arms to leave the body unprotected is either an act of faith or force, as I learn through experience. A large color print of a close-up photo shows a rather coarse, pale pink piece of flesh. Light hairs grow in the upper part of the picture, while deep vertical crevices dig themselves into the lower part. Not until I read the title of the picture, Cupid’s Bow (1997), do I understand that I’m looking at the rim of an upper lip.

Larsen Dennis’ photographs and sculptures are notable for their contrasting textures and harmonizing colors: white, gray, and pale salmon set off against black. Her new “Painting Series” is a selection of photos in these delicate tones, which stage details from famous master paintings. We see the hand of Édouard Manet’s Olympia resting lightly on her thigh, or that of Lucas Cranach’s Eve with her little finger raised; or the naked, intertwined legs of Gustave Courbet’s two women in bed.




Charlotte Bydler