Lives and works in Copenhagen.
Rasmus Myrup’s work seeks out the fragility and potent potential in common conceptions. By tinkering with our ideas of folklore, plants, the hegemony of history and the volatile nature of language, he attempts to reshape research and the deep past in a relatable form, so the known can be felt anew. Thus, through his sculptures, drawings and paintings, Myrup grapples with how malleable the experience of being human is – and how susceptible it is; at its worst to manipulation and at its best to change.
Myrup has most recently exhibited at La Criée, Rennes (FR), 1646, The Hague (NL), Museum Sønderjylland, Tønder (DK), O-Overgaden, Copenhagen (DK) and Göteborg International Biennale for Contemporary Art (SE).
©Precoming Rasmus Myrup
Since 1913, birthdays in Denmark have been celebrated in music with a song that has become traditional nationwide, called Fødselsdagssangen or dag er det Oles fødselsdag, which may be translated as Today is Ole’s birthday, Ole being an old-fashioned boy’s name. Rasmus Myrup refers to this slightly kitsch, but very widespread custom with this series of three works. A chair is holed in multiple places and into these holes are placed rolled up sheets with different versions of this song written upon them. The chair design is by Danish designer Arne Jacobsen and is typical of luxury Scandinavian furniture design, made for stylish, pared-back interiors. The chair is associated with a packet of cigarettes and a birthday cake, unsubtle references to festive, raucous occasions.
