Cathrine Raben Davidsen (born 1972), is a Danish artist, who works in textiles, ceramics, printmaking, drawing, and painting. She is best known for her paintings depicting grief, in particular her portraits, which have been described as "eerie". She has cited Mamma Andersson and Kai Althoff as influences in her work, as well as her former teachers in Italy, Rose Shakinovsky and Claire Gavronsky.
Rabe Davidsen studied art in Denmark, Italy, and the Netherlands before establishing herself in Copenhagen where her work has most extensively been exhibited. She has been the recipient of a number of awards and grants. In 2015, she was made a Knight of the Order of Dannebrog.
Biography Cathrine Raben Davidsen was born in Copenhagen in 1972. Her father died when she was 13; he was one of the first Danes to die of causes related to HIV/AIDS. Her grief led her to pursue painting as a means of connecting with his memory despite the stigma that surrounded his death. Her father had been a fashion designer, and initially, she made fashion illustrations in his memory. These early works were executed in oil, charcoal, and pencil and are considered to be emotional and wild in character.
From 1991 to 1992, she studied at the Lorenzo de' Medici School. She returned to Denmark and attended the University of Copenhagen from 1994 to 1995. Raben Davidsen then studied at the Vrije Academie voor Beeldende Kunsten from 1995 to 1996. After leaving the Netherlands, she began attending The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in 1996 and was awarded a Master of Fine Arts in 2003.
Raben Davidsen has collaborated with the Royal Danish Ballet, where she created a scenography for the ballet Virtuosi Steps by August Bournonville. She began working with ceramics around 2010, and was invited to collaborate with Royal Copenhagen. The multimedia exhibition their collaboration produced, "Totem", was on display in 2019.
Awards and fellowships In 2004 she received funding from the Danish Arts Foundation, a grant which she would receive more than five times. She was awarded Den Danske Bogdesignpris in 2008. In 2009, she received the Grant of Honour from the Niels Wessel Bagge Art Foundation and the silver Creative Circle Award for her project White Ink. She has also received grants from the Beckett Foundation, L. F. Foghts Foundation, the Toyota Foundation, and Oda og Hans Svenningsens Fond.
In 2015, Raben Davidsen was appointed a Knight of the Order of Dannebrog by Queen Margrethe II. In 2022, she was awarded the inaugural Beckett Prize in recognition of her original compositions as a painter.
Selected solo exhibitions The Harlequin Set, Martin Asbæk Gallery, Copenhagen, 2013 Trickster, Litografisk, Valby, Denmark, 2013 House of The Ax, GL STRAND, Copenhagen, 2012 The Inkwell, Trapholt Museum of Modern Art, Kolding, Denmark, 2010 Remote Control, Martin Asbæk Gallery, Copenhagen, 2009 White Ink, Horsens Museum of Art, Horsens, Denmark, 2008 Voice of the Shuttle, Schäfer Grafisk Værksted, Copenhagen, 2007 Voice of the Shuttle. Permanent public wall painting at Nimb, Copenhagen, 2007 Meta Morphoses, Sorø Kunstmuseum, Sorø, Denmark, 2006 Penelopes Web, Martin Asbæk Gallery, Copenhagen, 2006 Heroides, Ama Gallery, Turku, Finland, 2005 Pen Pencil Poison, Horsens Museum of Art, Horsens, Denmark, 2003
Selected group exhibitions 10.000 Hours, Trapholt Museum of Modern Art, Kolding, DK, 2014 The Nordic Influence, curated by Glenn Adamson, MAD, Museum of Art and Design/ represented by Vance Trimble, Collective2/Designfair, New York, 2014 På Kant med Kierkegaard, Holstebro Kunstmuseum, Denmark, 2014 SHOWcabinet: Maison Martin Margiela, SHOWstudio, London, UK, 2013 Zeigen: Karin Sander, Nikolaj Kunsthal, Copenhagen, 2013 På Kant med Kierkegaard, The National Museum of Denmark, 2013 Betroet Tvivl, The Vejen Art Museum, Denmark, 2013 Andratx on Paper, CCA Andratx Kunsthalle for Contemporary Art, Mallorca, Spain, 2013 MARKET Stockholm, represented by Martin Asbæk Gallery, Stockholm, Sweden, 2013 WONDERS – Masterpieces from Private Collections in Denmark, KUNSTEN, Museum of Modern Art Aalborg, Denmark, 2012 A Journey Through A Nordic Fairytale, Pop Up Space, Guided By in Voices, Chelsea, New York City, 2012 Ten years of DANSK, Dansk Design Center, Copenhagen, 2012 Art Moves, GL. STRAND, Copenhagen, 2011 1–4. A Private Collection of Contemporary Art, ACC Showroom, Copenhagen, 2011 Hp & Jo 07, Litografisk, Valby, Denmark, 2007 Groupshow with gallery artists, Martin Asbæk Gallery, Copenhagen, 2007
Selected monographs
References
External links Official website