Halfdan Venlov | A Brief Sanctuary

Arden Asbæk Gallery is proud to present Halfdan Venlov’s on-going photographic series Under Heaven during Copenhagen Photo Festival 2023. Featuring a series of C-type and Silver Gelatin prints, photographed at Assistens Cemetery, Copenhagen’s celebrated churchyard-turned-city park, the series affirms Venlov’s approach to the photographic narrative. Portraits, shared moments, and details of the cemetery combine in a timeless rendering of adolescence. Photographed over the course of four Copenhagen summers, ‘Under Heaven’ is an enchanting ode to youth and the romance of carefree days.

Dedicated to the medium of portraiture, Venlov’s practice is based on traditional photographic technique, developing, and hand-printing his work in his private darkroom in Copenhagen. The series began in the spring of 2020, when Venlov returned from his studies in Glasgow as a result of the national lockdown in the UK. Revisiting Assistens Cemetery during this isolated period allowed Venlov to observe the garden in a different light. He was drawn to the dualism between the youthful characters who hang out there, and the connotations of mortality tied to a cemetery.

Going on daily walks around the garden, he began engaging directly with his subjects, taking note of any revealing expressions or intimate gestures when faced with the camera. The portraits he made during that summer, and the three that followed, became the focal point of this body of work. Like his subjects, Venlov’s work feels natural and unforced; unhurried by time or the burden of the outside world. He photographs almost exclusively in the soft dappled light afforded by the foliage of the cemetery which, combined with a shallow depth of field, creates calming, dreamlike portraits.

Often surprised by Venlov’s desire to photograph them, his subjects would become active participants in the process. Venlov’s empathy with his subjects is apparent in their relaxed demeanor and attitude toward the camera. Embedded in the work is an invitation to look closely and deeply at the subject. ‘Under Heaven’ is not merely a record of everyday life, but about the pleasure of being truly seen.

A Brief Sanctuary presents works spanning all four summers, including new works made for the exhibition at Arden Asbæk Gallery.

Halfdan Venlov (b. 1994) is a Danish artist born in Copenhagen. He completed his Bachelor of Honours in Fine Art Photography at the Glasgow School of Art in 2021 and graduated from KBH’s Film & Fotoskole in 2018. He now lives and works in Copenhagen. Under Heaven was first presented at Oblong in Copenhagen.