Jakob Kolding’s practice is based in the fundamentals and history of collage. Using a variety of sources that range from the historical cannons of the visual arts, literature and the theatre, as well as pop, hip-hop, science-fiction, urban imagery and contemporary culture, Kolding has created his own visual vocabulary. Building layer upon layer, he actualises a world that is as richly complex as it is aesthetically beautiful.
The interwoven nature of themes such as identity, politics, presentation, the positioning of bodies, gestures and acting, are explored. Juxtaposed imagery and ideas come together as Kolding’s works create a space in which the possibility for new, unexpected connections is left deliberately open. In so doing, we are asked to look to our own subjective experiences and interpretations of what is at hand, building further layers within the work.
In recent years, Jakob Kolding’s practice has shifted, focusing on a more physical presence. Developing on the cut and paste technique he is known for, creating cutout sculptures reminiscent of dioramas and scenography become three-dimensional collages, expanding throughout the space they inhabit to create a whole world which we are invited to explore.
Jakob Kolding (b. 1971, Denmark) has exhibited extensively throughout the world, with notable solo exhibitions at Stedelijk Museum Bureau (Amsterdam), University of Michigan Museum of Art (Ann Arbor), Salzburger Kunstverein (Salzburg), Overgaden (Copenhagen), Centre d’Edition Contemporaine (Geneva), Hamburger Kunstverein (Hamburg), and the Cobra Museum for Modern Art (Amstelveen) alongside Corbusier. In 2017, he created the stage design and scenography for an original opera for the Bregenzer Festspiele in collaboration with Kunsthaus Bregenz (Bregenz). His work can be found in the public collections of Museum of Modern Art (New York), the National Gallery of Denmark (Copenhagen), Wien Museum (Vienna), Kunsthaus Bregenz (Bregenz) and the Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam) among many others.
