Galleri Nicolai Wallner

Copenhagen

About the gallery

Galler Nicolai Wallner was established in Copenhagen in 1993, with the ambition of exhibiting challenging and innovative contemporary art.

The inauguration of the gallery not only captured the spirit of that particular time, but set the pace and agenda for the gallery's continued operations. The gallery was primarily founded on the ideals of what it means to represent an artist throughout their career. Accordingly, many of the artists in our current program have been with the gallery since its inception, and have had their first solo show with the gallery. The current program is comprised of both Scandinavian and international artists. Working with varying techniques, media and practices, they are defined as a group not by a shared aesthetic, but rather by a common wish to express content, to tell a story, and to make an impression in an otherwise fluctuating world.

Featured artists

Rasmus Myrup (DK)

Alexander Tovborg (DK)

David Shrigley (UK)

Anna Kristine Hvid Petersen (DK)

Kinga Bartis (RO)

J.G. Arvidsson (SE/ET)

Introduction

Rasmus Myrup

Bringing together elements from our natural and social histories, Rasmus Myrup’s rich practice puts forward parallel narratives of what once was and what continues to be. Dynamics of love, sex, family, relationships and power are brought into focus, extending through the worlds of flora, fauna, and people alike. With matter like the stone age, Nordic folklore and modern culture, Myrup’s installations, sculptures and works on paper reintroduce us to a world which is subversively ours but can be overtly ours if we so choose. This drive to bring other narratives to the forefront is echoed in Rasmus Myrup’s technical prowess.

Utilising both archaic practices and futuristic technique—including silver point drawings and eelgrass thatching among others—Myrup crates something which feels uniquely in the here and now.

Rasmus Myrup (b. 1991, Denmark) currently lives and works in Copenhagen. Myrup has shown at Tranen Space for Contemporary Art (Hellerup), Le Bicolore Maison du Danemark (Paris), Den Frie Udstillingsbygning (Copenhagen), Kunsthal Aarhus (Aarhus), and the National Gallery of Denmark (Copenhagen) among others. Myrup is in the permanent collection of Brandts (Odense) and the National Gallery of Denmark (Copenhagen). In 2023, Myrup opened his first instituiton show in Germany at Kunsverein Gottingen (Gottingen)

Introduction

David Shrigley

David Shrigley plays with humour and honesty, working primarily with drawing, as well as sculpture, installation and animation. Through his now iconic style which combines text and figurative imagery, the works are chaotic and colourful. Their appearance reveals a rigorous practice through which the banality of everyday life is explored, as David Shrigley looks at our fears and hopes, our insecurities, emotional traumas, ups and downs, and the other things that make up our mundane realities. Both poignant and sarcastic, his works succinctly remind us of what brings us all together and what makes us all human.

David Shrigley OBE (b. 1968, UK) has received international and critical acclaim for his work. He has had recent solo exhibitions at Spritmuseum (Stockholm), Deste Foundation Project Space (Hydra), Power Station of Art & Design (Shanghai), a public exhibition with the Public Art Fund in Central Park (New York), Pinakothek der Moderne (Munich), Yerba Buena Centre for the Arts (San Francisco), Rose Art Museum (Massachusetts), the National Gallery of Victoria (Melbourne, Turku Art Museum (Turku), and Museum Ludwig (Cologne) among many others.

Introduction

Kinga Bartis

Kinga Bartis’ approach to painting lies outside the boundaries of the classic school of the medium. Eschewing labels, Bartis envisions painting as a means of breaking free from the habitual relationship of defining and redefining our existence—Bartis chooses to instead look towards a more multidisciplinary and open approach.
Reoccurring themes of sexuality, power structures, the body and self-perception can be felt through these motions as they pulsate towards us. Their presence does not suggest a direction that Kinga Bartis’ wishes us to go in, but rather a mood or a feeling, a platform through which discussions are encouraged.
Kinga Bartis (b. 1984, Transylvania) lives and works in Copenhagen. Bartis graduated with an MFA from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in 2018. Bartis has been exhibited at Museet for Religiøs Kunst (Lemvig), Rønnebæksholm (Næstved) OK CORRAL (Copenhagen) and TRANEN Space for Contemporary Art (Gentofte).

Introduction

Alexander Tovborg

Taking as his starting point history, mythology, religion, as well as written and oral narratives, Alexander Tovborg draws on the stories that have come before us in order to explore and re-contextualise classical archetypes. In looking at the ways through which we have built our narratives in the past, he proposes a new reading of our current social and political situation, examining who we are and where we find ourselves today in the here and now.

His laborious and layered technique can be seen as a kind of rhythmic practice which allows Tovborg to submerse himself in various worlds, creating a kind of visual language that runs throughout the work, spanning different series, figures and motives. This visual language connects the work, but also works to connect the differing narratives, reminding us of the similarities which run through many of the world’s origin stories.
Alexander Tovborg (b.1983, Denmark) graduated from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in 2010. With solos at Overgaden (Copenhagen), GL Strand (Copenhagen) and Rudolph Tegner Museum (Dronningmølle) among others, Tovborg has notably shown at ARKEN (Ishøj), ARoS (Aarhus), IMMA Museum of Modern Art (Dublin), Spiritmuseum (Stockholm), Holstebro Kunstmuseum (Holstebro), and KØS (Køge).

Introduction

Anne Kristine Hvid Petersen

Anna Kristine Hvid Petersen’s paintings redefine the traditional still life genre. While at first glance the works might seem straightforward, they subtly reveal themselves to be both mysterious and playful. Shadows are intentionally inaccurate, backgrounds are captivating and deceptive, and classic interpretations of still life motifs are done away with. Objects such as flowers become almost embodied with human characteristics, coyly turned away from the viewer, hinting at something else. Anna Kristine Hvid Petersen (b. 1992, Denmark graduated from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in 2022. The gallery is looking forward for the first solo show with the artist in 2023.

Introduction

J.G. Arvidsson

J.G.Arvidsson’s practice is primarily based in the medium of painting. Regularly depicting people and figures, often shown in profile or silhouette, J.G.Arvidsson focuses on narratives which are made to be both open and manyfold. Recurring motifs and elements can be found throughout his practice, establishing a referential and contextual framework for us, the viewer, to use as a lens through which we can navigate our own subjective interpretations concerning the works. The resulting sense of purposeful—yet delicately subtle—ambiguity is echoed in J.G.Arvidsson’s use of techniques. Paint, canvas and oil stick among a variety of other media overlap on pieces of found and up-cycled wood. Applied thickly and scratched off in places, the layers, the seams and the physical processes of the work are left deliberately exposed. The result is an incredibly expansive depth of both material and narrative which can be felt in an especially tactile and tangible way.

J.G.Arvidsson (b. 1989, Ethiopia & Sweden) lives and works in Copenhagen. J.G.Arvidsson is currently finishing his Master of Fine Art at The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Art’s School of Painting. The gallery is looking forward to the first solo show with the artist in 2023.