Do you know which artworks the museum acquired for the collection in 2021? Now we’ve reached December, we’d like to take a look back on the art we purchased this year.

In May, the museum bought the soft, black sculpture ‘What You Leave Behind’ by Maibritt Marjunardóttir. The sculpture is knitted out of old VHS tapes and was exhibited at the Spring Exhibition. The director of the museum, Karina Lykke Grand says that the artist used knitting to give the material a very special shape. The sculpture is an unfamiliar, yet enticing heap of something we have done with – old videos from an era of VHS tape. The shape and expression of the sculpture also look forward, helping to expand our image of sculpture as a medium.

The museum also purchased a series of 30 photographic works by Ingi Joensen. The works were part of this summer’s exhibition ‘HOME’ and captured great attention. Karina Lykke Grand says of the series: “Ingi Joensen photographed a house in the 1970s and again in 2015 – a gap of 30 years. The works encourage discussion and questions about feeling at home and about what makes a house a home. The series also helps enhance the museum’s collection of photographic art. 

The third and final purchase is the painting ‘Weather Before a Thunderstorm, Vorupør’ by Ruth Smith (1939). Karina Lykke Grand explains how Ruth Smith painted this picture of the oppressive weather preceding a thunderstorm while on a summer trip to Vorupør in North Jutland in Denmark. Notice the particularly intense colours and the power of this painting.

As you can see, the purchases span photography, painting and sculpture. We are delighted to expand the collection with works in various media and to be able to add a sculptural work to the collection, which is one of the priorities of the museum’s purchasing strategy.