With a poetic approach to the mundane, the Danish artist Julie Stavad investigates the liminal state between function and value. Her sculptures contain stories of what we humans do with objects, what they do to us, and how we and they encounter each other in the universe. This new series of sculptural objects specially created for the context of the Ace Hotel Gallery operates as three-dimensional still lifes. They are composed of shoes and cutlery — everyday objects that will be open for discussions about housework, body, and resilience.

By playing with the proportions and materialities of things, Julie Stavad investigates our bodies’ modes of decoding objects and their surroundings. Her sculptures bring the body into play through jumps in scale and contrasting effects in materials. Something which is known as small, and perhaps deemed as ‘weak’, is given the size to take up space in a new and surprising way. Surreal compositions between objects and materials question the use of power, function, and emotions.

About:

Julie Stavad (b. 1987, DK) graduated from the Jutland Art Academy in 2015 and has exhibited at O-Overgaden (DK), Holstebro Art Museum (DK), Kunsthalle Seinäjoki (FI), and Art Sonje (KR) among others. She has been creating work in public and in 2023 she will be opening three large-scale public commissions. Stavad was an artist in residence at ISCP — International Studio & Curatorial Program in 2021/22, and Residency Unlimited in 2022, both in New York. She is the recipient of several grants including the Niels Wessel Bagges Kunstfond, Carl Nielsen, and Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen Talent Award and the Astrid Noack Grant. Full bio here.

Residency Unlimited is grateful to Ace Hotel Brooklyn for hosting and supporting this exhibition. Julie Stavad’s residency at RU is made possible with funds from the Danish Arts Foundation.

Time: 6:00 PM — 8:00 PM EST

Free!

Registration