Bruce Silverstein Gallery is pleased to present Trine Søndergaard’s Strude, the Danish artist’s first solo exhibition with the gallery.
The strude is the name of the mask-like garment that was worn by women on the Danish island of Fanø to cover their faces from the wind, sun and sand. This style of dress, now considered a traditional costume, is worn only for an annual fête day. For three years, Søndergaard visited the island for this celebration and photographed the women by a window in a small attic as they dressed for the festivities, focusing on the strude headdress. While the work is not a direct study of either the place or the women’s clothing, the series expresses the artist’s fascination with the culture on the island and with the folk costume as the bearer of meaning and specific codes.