“Danskjävlar—en Svensk kaerlighedserklaering” (Danish Bastards—A Swedish Declaration of Love) is the inaugural exhibition at the newly renovated, redefined, and reopened Kunsthal Charlottenborg, curated by its new Swedish director, Bo Nilsson. The title, a famous quote taken from a Lars von Trier Danish TV series, exemplifies the combination of warmth and frustration experienced by the Swedish main character toward his host country. Curated from this “outside” perspective, the twenty artists exemplify the breadth of the Danish art scene, and the luxury of space granted them—each has his or her own room—works in their favor. Three large-scale works by Tal R give evidence of his range in media and technique, from the suavely accomplished canvas Nej, er det nye ja (No Is the New Yes), 2007, to the 1970s-era teenage imagery in the collage Lords of Kolbojnik, 2002–2003, to a nearly childlike repetition of a rainbow in his textile wall hanging Jeg draebte en paedagog (I Killed a Teacher), 2007. The rewards offered by Olafur Eliasson’s installation Mental, 1993, first seen at Charlottenborg while he was still a student at the art academy, are less immediate. Eerily, only after several minutes does the artist’s audible heartbeat become comprehensible—just as it comes into sync with one’s own. Eva Koch’s video Augusta, 2008, brings family, memories, and expectations to the forefront: As a stream of people walk over a snowy mountaintop in Greenland and disappear out of frame, Augusta, projected on the opposite wall, is in Denmark, standing, looking, searching, and waiting in vain to meet these members of her true extended family. Martin Erik Andersen’s installation with open-throated arms—and I got lost, 2007, takes up little actual space, but the ethereal quality of the work manages a sensual overflow. Nilsson’s debut exhibition promises good things to come in Copenhagen.

— Amy Simon