When artist studios are represented it often looks the same: tin cans full of paintbrushes, chaise lounges, paintings facing the wall, empty frames, hanging textiles, and candles stuck in wine bottles. Kelly Lloyd’s exhibition in The Demo Room at Galleri Image diverges from this common visual narrative by presenting the outdoor workspace of contemporary Danish artist Dahn Vo. 

Last year Vo was commissioned by The South London Gallery to collaborate with children on a new work for its garden exhibition space. Eleven children travelled to Vo’s studio in Germany to build a large wooden pavilion with the artist and his team - where they also played, gardened, cooked, and camped on his sprawling farmland. Kelly sourced documentary footage of this project to create a silhouette image of Vo's studio using black vinyl, which she applies directly to the surface of The Demo Room - its glass window pane. By invoking this specific example of a playful and collaborative process, In the studio attempts to complicate the way artistic processes are represented, and to question what impact this has on how artistic labour is understood in the public imagination.

Kelly’s decision to represent Vo’s studio directly on the window pane draws attention to the hyper-visibility of The Demo Room, as a space that allows for 24-hour public display on one of the busiest streets in Aarhus. This visibility undermines the stereotype that artist studios are mysterious and off-limits to outsiders. At the same time, it raises questions about how artistic labour can be compromised by an increasing demand for transparency and access. There is a desire to see the artist at work, which can create pressure on artists to perform their artistry.

In the studio builds off the research Kelly did while in residence at Aarhus Billedkunstcenter in Fall 2018, when she interviewed people in the Aarhus arts sector about their livelihoods. Her work juxtaposes the realities of being a contemporary working artist gleaned from these interviews, with representations of artists' lives and labour.