About the artworks made for sparekassen thy in 2018

Photos and text: Galleri NB

When Sparekassen Thy opened a new department in Viborg, they had the wish that it would be an experience and at least not boring to visit the bank. The building is on three floors and primarily the expedition area and the meeting rooms were given focus. At the same time, almost the whole facade is covered with floor to ceiling windows. One therefore wanted to give the many people on the street a look and a dynamic impression of the savings bank.

In collaboration with interior designers, HR department and department director Flemming Nyvang, we found that Henriette Hellstern's artistic expression could emphasize the interior design of the building and the desire for a dynamic expression.

Passion-group exhibition-galleri nb-viborg-denmark-2018

As the title suggests, this exhibition has focus on emotions, passion and commitment. The artists tell their individual stories with a glow and a stamina that gives the audience both immediate experiences, but certainly also substance for thought.

This summer exhibition is quite unusual in itself, combining paintings and sculptures by such different artists as Vilmantas (lt), Henriette Hellstern (dk), John Reuss (dk), Thomas Andersson (dk) and Ole Tersløse (dk), vouching for anything but a boring show!

Inner Atlas-solo exhibition-galleri nb-viborg-denmark-2018

Photos by: Kurt Nielsen, Lene Hellstern & Henriette Hellstern.

Press release by Lisbeth Beyer Mogensen:

A picturesque autopsy

'Inner Atlas', which can be seen from 11 March to 15 April, is the visual artist Henriette Hellstern's third solo exhibition in the Main Gallery of Gallery NB in Viborg. She is educated at Funen Art Academy in 2011. Throughout her career, the 38-year-old woman, originally from East Jutland, has exhibited her expressive and insightful expressionist contemporary art in many parts of the world.

In her studio at Amager, Henriette Hellstern creates the art that has brought her to New York, San Francisco, Florence, Vilnius, Sofia, Berlin and Charlottenborg's Spring Exhibition and now for the third time to Viborg.

She is also current with an exhibition in Brisbane, Australia, and until March, the tour goes to Gallery NB. In addition, she has received excellent prices in Frankfurt and Tallinn.

The body's ability to remember

Common to her works is that they are abstractions of the body's anatomy and cultivate the body's language. For the Inner Atlas exhibition, Henriette Hellstern has so-called autopsied the body with brush and paint. Her studio is flowing with picturesque, gender-neutral body parts in her work to uncover the body and its ability to recall both good and evil - among other things, the little vertebra Atlas, who has also added a name to the exhibition.

Atlas is both a collection of maps, but also the neck whirl that allows us to nod yes with the head. In many ways a vital mechanism. If we nod yes at the wrong time, it may have consequences. And if the Atlas vertebra becomes damaged, it can hurt the whole body.

"The Yes, is my Achilles heel. I'm very bad at saying no. Therefore I have hanged a 'No!' sign in my studio - so I'm constantly reminded that I do not have to say yes to everything. I'm not going to get involved with every little thing, "says the visual artist.

The works are painted on the floor

In his current exhibition, Henriette Hellstern uses an asymmetric format to give the works an expression that extends beyond the rectangular format and gives the work an additional dimension. She also uses a technique where she 'opens' the work by making the first brush strokes on the wall hung canvas, then laying the it on the floor where new angles appear on the painting and a new approaches arise to the final work.

"I see the art as an important dialogue and my works about the body's language deal with something as basic as" what it's like to be human right now, "says Henriette Hellstern, living with her rainbow family in the house, which extends to the studio.

Her vision with her art is to create a space where we can communicate with each other across the divisions. A painting that seems difficult to talk about can in fact be understood from the individual's situation and life. And when we listen to each other's views, we can become more intelligent and who knows perhaps more empathetic?

"My tentacles are always out and my expressive sensitive I is hit by everyday cruelty and injustice but also of hope. If my works and my person, my history and experiences can make the world a more exciting place - a better place, my goal is achieved. "

colourful chaos-curated group exhibition-the laundry artspace-brisbane-australia-2018

Press release:

What happens when a pixel gets so large it takes up the entire screen? What happens when you’re so insecure that you need a constantly nodding hat to gratify you with affirmation? Is the peak of popularity linked to online followers? And, why are robots trying to lure me into sex chat? Where do you draw the line between reality and the dig - ital realm? This Fluxkunst exhibition, COLOURFUL CHAOS, host - ed by The Laundry Art Space in Brisbane, Austra - lia explores the many chaotic implications of co - lour. Drawing together artists from all over the world, this exhibition features both physical and digital artworks which illicit strong emotional reactions colour. Artists navigating a something that isn’t tangi - ble to bring you COLOURFUL CHAOS.

Selected artists: APE (Bernard Avantin), Agnes Durbet, Mia Bencun, Louise Bradley, Mark Cypher, Surface//Cast, Jac Dyson, Diana Galimzyanova, Olga Guse, John L. Hammer, Erin Laurel Hayhow, Henriette Hellstern, Ana Karkar, Lita Poliakova, Eden Mitsenmacher, Naween Noppakun, Leyla Rodriguez, Lily Rosina, Dream Safarii, Joe Winograd and Amanda Wolf.

Text, photos and curation by Ursula Cooper & Fluxkunst.

Your quiet riot-solo exhibition-galleri nb-viborg-2017

Photos by: Kurt Nielsen, Thorkild NB & Henriette Hellstern

Press release: 

Henriette Hellstern works with the body as a fulcrum. It shows in the diversity of infinite variety of configurations and highly expressive strokes. She graduated from Funen Art Academy in 2011 and is already a well-known name at home and abroad. She has won several art awards and in 2015 she received The Danish Art Councils working grant for continuing practice. Welcome to a strong interpretation of the future challenges in Gallery NB.

A quiet riot has been simmering in you for a long time, now it burns. The bubbles have been just below the water surface and now the water boils, it overflows. Your limit is reached. You will not just see what happens you will act. Quietly but firmly you move your body. Although you know this movement will be a landmark for you, your environment, the world, everything, it feels like you crawl ahead, something weigh you down, but there is no turning back. You'd rather die trying, knowing you at least tried than not try at all. It's time for a riot, something must be done. .

More simply, it is about the choices we must make. Whether we want to change things around us, and leave everything behind. It can also be your battle for example against the system, a war, a condition, a disease, an unfortunate pattern ...

We must at all costs avoid the hamster wheel, and we must always try to make things even better.

Art herning 17-herning-art fair-galleri nb-2017

Group installation with: andrea damp, vilmantas, kristian vodder svensson, henriette hellstern, paul smulders, mette maya gregersen, john reuss and toon berghahn

Selected-art copenhagen-art fair-galleri nb-2016

Group installation with: andrea damp, zoran juresa, vilmantas, kristian vodder svensson, henriette hellstern and paul smulders

We do not argue for that-group exhibition-staldgade-copenhagen-2016

Press release: 

We do not argue for that is a feminist, woman only, art exhibition during Talk Town in Copenhagen. Talk Town, a series of events focusing on gender, equality and feminism inspired by Denmark’s hosting of the World Conference on Women, the ‘Women Deliver’ conference. Talk Town overlaps the conference and extends the series feminist events in Copenhagen.

The title of the exhibition refers to the existing problem in the established art world: art works by women are regarded from a gendered perspective, while art works by male artists is just art and as such not subject to a gendered debate. The works in the exhibition will not necessarily be based on themes such as gender equality and feminism, nor is it a condition that the invited artists see themselves or their art as being enrolled in a feminist context.

With the choice of selecting female artists only the curators, Iben Andersen and Clara Starck, highlight the inequality that is currently existing in the art world: works by men are exhibited more often than works by women. 

The exhibiting artists are: Lil Wachmann, Signe Vad, Melou Vanggaard, Clara Blach Starck, Kristina Elisabeth Steinbock, Mailind Solvind Mjøen, Marianne Jørgensen, Henriette Hellstern, Johanne Helga Heiberg Johansen, Margarita del Carmen, Honey Biba Beckerlee, Iben Andersen, Nanna Riis Andersen    

About the artworks for viborg hospital

Viborg hospital wanted to decorate the hallway you cross, when you leave the parking area and go to the blood testing area. They selected two works from the solo exhibition Weightlessness. Two humans on the run, full of life, full of power.

Lucidity-solo exhibition-grafo galerija-vilnius-lithuania-2016

photo by: audrius sidlauskas & tomas ivanauskas

Press release:
There are moments in our lives that are very clear in our memory, just at that specific time we knew what we had to strive for or flee from. And then came the deafening silence and knocked on the door. The shoulders were not raised anymore but calm, the breath could now go all the way into the stomach, and we had clarity and redemption.

The exhibition lucidity puts a focus on willpower and personal battles towards ease, ease in life, an ease of mind, completely clear thoughts. Dynamic strokes, bodily drip, the artist, history and tools merge and create the framework in this expressive colorful skinless honest tale.

Weightlessness-solo exhibition-galleri nb-viborg-denmark-2015

Press release:

A light and airy stream pulls skin and bones, feet no longer touching the ground, hands reaching out, you stretch out, a fleating moment, no pain, no noise, no smell, only a pounding, rhythmic pulse, quiet, stock-still.

Art copenhagen-art fair-gallery nb-copenhagen-2015

Group installation with: mette maya gregersen, kristian vodder svensson, john reuss, henriette hellstern, paul smulders, steen larsen and vilmantas 

About the five paintings made for the hall at randers state school in 2015

Humans have always been absorbed by the body. In these years, society and the media are, not least, very concerned with the young, fresh and beautiful. Whilst the perishable, aging and ugly are tabooed. In recent times, I myself have been very much aware of BMI (Body Mass Index), which can tell you when you are thick and when you are thin. I've lost almost 20kg while working on the topic, but as I have to say, the BMI scale does not tell you when you're happy, but only if you're in the box! Therefore, the paintings also embrace exertion, challenge, sweat and struggle, hope and pain. The people portrayed are moving, doing something. They stretch out, make sit-ups, lift heavy things and are in motion. The worst is basically stagnation both physical and mental, we must always develop and try to reach the top point of the climbing wall. Of course, you can just come down to earth. What do you choose?

Ich bleibe/vkunst-galerie greulich/kunstverein familie montez-frankfurt-germany-2015

Photos by: alexander wundervoll

Curated by: andreas greulich, christoph von low, tobias rehnberger, mirek macke, mario von kelterborn, jochen latz 

Group Exhibition with:
Vasilis Karvounis, Markus Winkler, Diego Vivanco, Lukas Adolphi, Oihana Cordero, Seweryn Zelanzny, Ela Goldman, Beatrix Simkó & Daniel Dömölky, Christine Cronjé, Euan Paul Williams, Jacek Ludwig Scarso, Martha Dimitratou, Thadeusz Tischbein & Ingolf Höhl, Tobias Becker, Nina Hofmann, Anne-Theresa Wittmann, Bauhaus Weimar, Ann Schomburg, Franz Reimer, Olga Guse, Lisa Weber, Martin Wenzel, Younes Baba-Ali, Jule Körperich, Constantin Hartenstein, Daniel Pesta, Meike Redeker, Michael Schwarz, Johanna Reich, Clara Aparcicio Yoldi, Henriette Hellstern, Steffen Köhn, Kuesti Fraun, Moritz Schlegelmich, Yeonho Jang, Winter/Hoerbelt+ausgewählte arbeiten der ausstellung

award winner: henriette hellstern for domestic dancer

Annihilated-solo exhibition-C4Projects-copenhagen-denmark-2014

Photos by: Victoria Thorsen & Lise Borup

Press release:

You have always stood with your back turned, for generations. Eaten up inside with grief over the loss, nourished by sacrifice, a vocation or only sound you immediately recognized, for generations. I was a provocative child you said, you never heard me.

During the exhibition of Annihilated HH puts focus on burnt out women, mothers who have forgotten how to dream. Annihilated is visualized through uncontrollable painting which portrays woman after woman, mother after mother, huddled together, exploited, forced, in desperation. The paintings will be joined by the video Domestic Dancer where the availability concept is performed, and by the suicidal sculpture Goodbye. Furthermore, the sources of inspiration are also on display. Be it plates, lp covers, postcards, woven paintings all from thrift stores and all with worn out women but women in work, items that have adorned homes for generations.

See you there burnt out or dreamy! 

&c dark matters-48eight gallery-kent sussex-united kingdom-2014

Photos by charlie dance

Press-release:

The inaugural exhibition for 48:Eight Gallery at The School Creative Centre brings together 6 artists from 4 countries; Henriette Hellstern (DK), Hermione Allsop (UK), Jonathan Hills (UK), Nathan Crothers (UK/FR), Nick Archer (UK) and Olga Titus (CH/IN).

These 6 artists work across a number of disciplines including video, photography and painting. It is the first time they have been brought together in one space.

&c [Dark Matters] deals with identity politics, power structures, stereotype, perception, social stigma all under a dark, cynical veil of humour.

Facing a modern society of constant flux, of neoliberal individualism, how can an artist operate? What are the challenges they face in contemporary society? And how do they maintain a voice?

Charlie Dance

StressHat-Hat never goes out of fashion!-solo exhibiton-nlhspace-copenhagen-denmark-2012

Photos by: Suada Demirovic

Press release:

The artist Henriette Hellstern also wears the hat, and for this exhibition the artist have worked on having everything under one and the same hat.
Meret Oppenheim created in 1942-1945 some fashion illustrations. The illustration "Hat of Three Persons" is the inspiration for the exhibition StressHat.  A "Yes-hat" is also a hat, with toxic effects and often cadaver and soul are not following along. Come and discover the works of multitasking, quick snack, uptempo, consistency and get a "yes, yes, yes, yes."
The theme is bent, caressed and punished:
-psychedelic color let out in quick turns; there's no time!
-squashed breast fuller queer felt massacre; we peak when we are 21 years!
-obscure clothing object with built-in electronics, for you how always are in style!
Henriette Hellsterns solo show is created specifically for NLH-Space and the dynamic environment around Vesterfælledvej, reminding pedestrians day and night of time and movement. Come wearing hat if you dare?

Henriette Hellstern graduated from Funen Art Academy in 2011 and is primarily engaged in abject art and queer art. She recently exhibited in Zurich, Berlin and Stockholm, and last year she won the Baltic art award "Outstanding Work to Baltic Pride 2011".
 

Curated by: Suada Demirovic.

World in my eyes-graduations show-brandts-odense-denmark-2011

Photos by: Rikke Ehlers Nilsson

Press release:

On WORLD IN MY EYES – Funen Art Academy Graduation Show 2011 – 14 artists participate who in various ways relate to the world from both mico- and macroperspectives, through mental and physical landscapes, fiction and concrete reality.

Participating artists:
Maria Bojsen, Magnus Fuhr, Meri Sidsel Gustafsson, Henriette Hellstern-Kjøller, Janni Mai Larsen, Naja Maria Lundstrøm, Daniel Mikilati, Rikke Ehlers Nilsson, Helene Ringkjær, Lucy Siame, Merete Vyff Slyngborg, Ditte Boen Soria, Tue Sprogø og Dan Stockholm.

WORLD IN MY EYES is curated by Anna Johansson and Jessica Segerlund.

The artists observe or are being observed. They put their eye at the center of the world and investigate to see, discover or ponder what nobody has discovered yet. And at the same time the limitless value of every single lived moment is revealed. The title of the show thus refers to both distant and close worlds – seen through 14 different gazes, works and artistic profiles, which the visitor is invited to become part of at the show.

Narrative is central to several of the artists. Not necessarily narrative in the sense of a story running from A to B, but more in the sense of tales taking detours and illuminating fragments of our collective as well as individual history.
The question of the role of the spectator is also touched upon in the show. With which gaze do we see our surroundings – how does what we see depend on where we are from, our ethnicity, sexual orientation, and social status?
Many of the artists also address questions relating to the being and function of art in itself – how is art to be classified and function in our societies?

The 14 exhibiting artists work in a wide variety of artistic media such as water colours, photography, sound, drawing, text, and video.

Abject and object-solo exhibition-nbex-viborg-denmark-2010

Press release:

The body is the main subject of this series of works. My exhibition features six paintings and one video all of which scrutinizes the abjects and beauty of the body. I have examined what 'abject' means to me. For Paul Mccarthy it is equal with the body fluids shrouded by an empirical performance, for me abjects equals body movements and moods turned into colors. I am also fascinated with mutual repetitive work, and see Judith Butler's thesis about the heterosexual matrix as a core theme in my works. Thus I have chosen to comment on the woman as an object in my video Touch My Tra La La, as I feel that we subconscious repetitively objectify the woman.