Jesper Just to Represent Denmark at Venice Biennale with Installation 'Intercourses'

Jesper Just will represent Denmark at the 2024 Venice Biennale with his installation 'Intercourses', which explores architecture, cultural dislocation, and memory through a five-channel film work where location serves as the protagonist. The installation integrates the architectural space of the Danish Pavilion in the Giardini with the filmic space, beginning the exhibition experience before visitors enter the building. Just's approach considers the cultural clash inherent in the Giardini, where national pavilions represent individual cultures through architectural signifiers on another nation's soil. The artist reflects on the area's paradoxical nature—deserted for much of the year yet marked by architectural acts of ownership—which led him to investigate replica cities. The sound design unifies the work, addressing themes of connection and discommunication within a specific location. The Venice Biennale previews on May 29, 2024, opening to the public on June 1, 2024. ArtReview is publishing responses from artists in national pavilions via a questionnaire to uncover insights about the event. Just first visited the biennale in 1995, though his initial experience was hampered by closed exhibitions on a Monday.