Dorte Dahlin was born in Copenhagen in 1955. As a student of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen (1978–1982, under Sven Dalsgaard, Freddie Lerche and Hein Heinsen), Dahlin was struck by the perceptive subtlety of Chinese prints, the vaporous inks of which mesh mass, void and depth. This aesthetic encounter – facilitated in part by an exhibition of Chinese art in Hamburg – turned out to be a revelation for the artist who translated the experience into her own practice, creating spatial formations she describes as ‘lost distance’ or ‘rubber geometry’. Her 1988 work I forgot to Remember to Forget perfectly encapsulates this artistic influence and sensibility.
Like most Danish artists of the era, Dahlin arrived on the contemporary scene amid the goings-on and happenings of The Young Wild Ones movement. Carving out her own unique niche, however, she really put herself on the map following her participation in the 1982 exhibition Kniven på hovedet (The Knife on the Head) held at Tranegården in Gentofte.
If the 1980s were characterised by rubber geometry and experimentations with perspectives, the 1990s were hallmarked by large monochromatic painted objects repeated in quasi-abstract, vertigo-inducing patterns.
The radical novelty that is Dahlin’s perception through the invisibility of light and space has not only been explored artistically, but also academically and professionally. As a member of the Committee for Art in Public Space (1996–2000) and, moreover, the head of the NOMAD ACADEMY – a multicultural exchange programme – since 2001, Dahlin has been able to put her artistic reflections into practice. In her public works, light is often used to highlight a space within a space, revealing the invisibility by erasing it. Favouring slopes and staircases, the artist creates vanishing flows of light, intangible currents of perceptible material.
Recently, Dahlin has favoured the sculptural and performance mediums for the site-specific opportunities they offer. A prime example is the massive stone door (square sections of rose quartz held together by a metal lattice) she produced for the Abbey Church in Aalborg (2012). Monument & Staircase (Hirtshals), created in collaboration with sculptor Mogens Møller, also deserves a mention.
Dahlin lives and works in Copenhagen.
