Danh Vō

White Cube presents an exhibition of new work by artist Danh Vō. This is the artist’s first exhibition with the gallery and his first solo presentation in Hong Kong.

The exhibition is centred around Vō’s expansive installation, titled “You’re gonna die up there/ Keep away! The sow is mine/ Fuck me, fuck me, fuck me/ Let Jesus fuck you, let Jesus fuck you! Let him fuck you/ Lick me, lick me/ Do you know what she did, your cunting daughter?/ You might loosen the straps then/ I’m not Regan/ And I’m the Devil! Now kindly undo these straps/ That’s much too vulgar a display of power, Karras/ In here. With us/ Can you help an old altar boy Father?/ Your mother’s in here with us Karras, would you like to leave a message? I’ll see that she gets it/ What an excellent day for an exorcism/ Intensely/ It would bring us together/ You and us/ Uh Huh/ In time/ In time/ Mirabile dictu, don’t you agree?/ Ego te absolvo/ Bon Jour/ La plume de ma tante/ Until she rots and lie stinking in the earth/ What’s that?/ You keep it away/ Ahhhhhhhhhhh/ Ahhhhhhh/ It burns, it burns/ Emit su evig/ Ydob eht ni mraw si ti/ Uoy ees I/ Tseirp a si eh/ Emit su evig/ Nirrem, Nirrem/ Tseirp a si eh/ Eno on ma I/ Eno on ma I/ Ahhhhhhhhhhh/ Stick your cock up her ass, you mother-fucking, worthless cocksucker/ Your mother sucks cocks in Hell, Karras, you faithless slime/ Bastards, stop/ Shove it up your ass, you faggot/ Fuck him, Karras/ You killed your mother/ You left her alone to die/ She’ll never forgive you/ Bastard/ Dimmy, why you did this to me?/ Please Dimmy, I’m afraid/ Dimmy please!/ Dimmy, είσαι πολύ κουρασμένος να πας στο κρεβάτι/ Ο Θεός μαύρο/ Why, Dimmy?” (2015).

The work is named after lines spoken by the demon in the film The Exorcist (1973).

Consisting of over 600 mammoth fossils from the late Pleistocene period and a carved ivory figure from the 17th century, Vō suspends these materials from the ceiling throughout the gallery, including its corridors and stairwells. This installation was first presented at the Crystal Palace, Museo Nacional Centro de Reina Sofía, Madrid as part of his exhibition, Banish the faceless / Reward your grace (2015).

Danh Vō was born in 1975 in Bà Rja, Vietnam and currently lives and works in Berlin and Mexico City. He represented Denmark at the Venice Biennale in 2015 and participated in the International Exhibition of the Biennale in 2013. Solo exhibitions include the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid (2016); Museum Ludwig, Cologne (2015); Musée d’art moderne de la Ville de Paris (2013); Guggenheim Museum, New York (2013); Art Institute of Chicago (2012); Kunsthaus Bregenz, Austria (2012); Kunsthalle Basel, Switzerland (2009) and Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (2008). In 2015, Danh Vō co-curated ‘Slip of the Tongue’ with Caroline Bourgeois at the Punta della Dogana, Francois Pinault Collection, Venice (2015). He was the winner of the Hugo Boss Prize (2012) and awarded the ARKEN Art Prize, Denmark (2015).