About

Man is the measure of all things

Charlotte works artistically with video and photo art, and conceptually with design – within textiles and products.

Charlotte Skak trained at the art school Fronthause in Aarhus, the multimedia school MMI in Copenhagen (2001) and Designskolen Kolding (1994–99).

For the artist Charlotte Skak, what matters most – in life and in work – is that we are conscious of our existence and strive for personal freedom.

On every level, her art is about this: that we must set ourselves free – because we become a better, more creative and greater version of ourselves when we are free. A person who is physically or psychologically unfree limits themselves and often judges others; in contrast, Charlotte Skak's art is essentially about shedding light on inner as well as outer norms and constraints, to make room for liberation.

She often works in a controversial, absurd-humorous and unconventional form, where aesthetics and beauty carry and support the message.

In conceptual video, photo and performance works, the artist deals with the unspoken and with what we are trapped in – often our personal stories of pain. As a contemporary artist she sheds light on what is present in our time, while drawing lines back to the Renaissance, when the honest, everyday human being came into view – one who takes on suffering, shame and struggle to reach a higher form of freedom and clarity. The Renaissance's repetition of Protagoras' phrase "Man is the measure of all things" could be the headline of Charlotte Skak's work, since it is the human being – its nature, conditions and potential for growth – that interests her.

There is an ultimate honesty, almost a rawness, in her works, and a reckoning with a Protestant culture of self-denial is part of her practice. The focal point is often to see the aesthetic and challenging in the unusual; the unpolished and authentic are at the centre, often in the form of the woman and her body as it ages and departs from the glossy image of popular culture. This is not a manifesto, but simply an expression of the fact that Charlotte Skak is a woman, starts from herself and therefore uses the female body in her art.

In several works she explores the aesthetics of the close-up macro perspective – aged skin, loose folds of skin and so on. What we usually hide is thereby aestheticised, and what we tend to tuck away is shown in every detail. This courage, this strength to insist on the beauty, dignity and value of the worn, the aged and the seemingly imperfect, is a hallmark of Charlotte Skak's art. It adds a vulnerability and empathy that moves the viewer and commands the greatest respect.

Charlotte Skak is an artist who dares. She dares to have opinions and to be, to put herself on the line, to shout and to be too much. Niceness is of no use – the great questions of our time and human liberation are far too important to keep quiet about.

— Connie Boe Boss (translated from Danish)

Born 1970.