Ulrik Møller and Allan Otte in artistic dialog at Skive Art Museum
Experience two of Denmark’s foremost landscape painters when Ulrik Møller and Allan Otte meet in a joint exhibition at Skive Art Museum. Both artists are known for their original style and distinctive subject matter, and the exhibition brings their works into a thought-provoking interplay. Based on the modern view of nature, the exhibition revolves around both the landscape and agriculture and includes a number of brand new works created especially for the occasion, as well as selected major works and smaller works from museums, institutions and private collections. The exhibition will be on display from Saturday, June 7, 2025 to January 2, 2026.
From here my world goes
Allan Otte and Ulrik Møller both have a rural background, but they have very different approaches to their hometowns and landscapes, both in their motifs and expression. Allan Otte grew up on a farm in Northern Jutland and typically creates his works in acrylic on board. Otte works with a critical, ironic and refined update of the landscape tradition in his depictions of, among other things, modern agriculture, especially inspired by his upbringing.
“I only started painting landscapes after I left North Jutland and moved to Copenhagen to study. It made sense to relate to my origins and the land because it was now at a distance. And besides, no one else at the art academy was interested in landscape painting, so I had it all to myself. I don’t paint out of longing, but more soberly, out of memory, with a sense of belonging and an inevitable connection,” explains Allan Otte.
Ulrik Møller comes from Vester Aaby on Funen, but currently lives in Berlin. He paints in oil on canvas and is often quiet and romantically oriented in his landscape and coastal depictions. He sees himself as a painter who continues in the footsteps of older artists.
“I’ve been walking in woods, fields and hedgerows since I was a child. I’ve always been out there, walking through the landscape. The larch and the lapwing, everything out there. It was the whole world. As a child, I thought the whole world looked like South Funen. Being deeply rooted in your hometown is a quiet joy that you carry with you throughout your life. Maybe that’s why I needed to get out and paint my landscapes from a distance, down in Berlin,” says Ulrik Møller.
Both Otte and Møller challenge our notions of what landscape painting can be and can tell us today. The works in the exhibition range from the depiction of the capital’s stone bridge, to the waterfront of South Funen, to agricultural and industrial Denmark and much more!
An exhibition for the times
The exhibition points to the importance of art for our view of nature and shows how Otte and Møller interpret our surroundings, near and far. In the time of the Funen painters 100 years ago, art played an important role in the nature and environment debate. But how do we view the cultural landscape, coasts and agriculture today? In the midst of the green triangle and climate crisis, local and national identity searches, and a renewed focus on the benefits of rural and urban life? These are questions that this exhibition addresses in different ways. But first and foremost, the exhibition is an opportunity to experience a meeting between two significant painters in Danish contemporary art here at Skive Art Museum.
‘Allan Otte & Ulrik Møller’ is produced by the Johannes Larsen Museum in Kerteminde. Skive Art Museum has adapted the exhibition to its setting. The exhibition can be experienced at Skive Art Museum from June 7, 2025 to January 2, 2026.
