The publication Alexander Tovborg: The Church. Photographed by Mishael Fapohunda, edited and designed by Åbäke, follows the artist's eponymous exhibition at Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen (2023), in which Tovborg investigated the mysteries and paradoxes of faith, as well as the power of images.
Through the photographs taken by visual artist Mishael Fapohunda, the immersive and sacred atmosphere of the space, architecturally shaped on the model of a church according to Tovborg's own interpretation of Christian iconography, is vividly captured. The book includes a conversation between the artist and curator and writer Francesca Astesani, delving into the themes of spirituality, iconography, and tracing how the sacred has always played a central role in Tovborg's practice and life.
Taking as his starting point history, mythology, religion, as well as written and oral narratives, Alexander Tovborg (born 1983 in Copenhagen) draws on the stories that have come before us in order to explore and re-contextualise classical archetypes. In looking at the ways through which we have built our narratives in the past, he proposes a new reading of our current social and political situation, examining who we are and where we find ourselves today in the here and now.
His laborious and layered technique can be seen as a kind of rhythmic practice which allows Tovborg to submerse himself in various worlds, creating a kind of visual language that runs throughout the work, spanning different series, figures and motives. This visual language connects the work, but also works to connect the differing narratives, reminding us of the similarities which run through many of the world's origin stories. This emphasis on the various symbolisms that are found throughout these ancient narratives is something that Tovborg sees as essential to his practice, as he asserts the weight and power that images have within our contemporary culture, as well as how easily they can manipulated and used against us.
Acting on their behalf, Tovborg engages in an effort to keep their meanings open, giving us each the chance to see in them all that they encompass.
