Press Release

Morten Tillitz and Steinunn Helga Sigurdardóttir
Joint Project at Galleri Kirke Sonnerup

Morten Tillitz was born in 1965. He grew up in Avedøre Stationsby and Tønder and was educated at the Jyske Kunstakademi (Jutland Art Academy) and the Kunstakademie in Kiel, Germany.

Tillityz’s works consist of plaster, paper, and watercolor. He uses plaster panels, a material most people associate with construction. He creates new, quirky, strange spaces, platforms, or shelves, which he paints figures into. The figures are depicted with a color scheme over the face, which anonymizes them completely or partially, while also forming a tension of various emotional states. The contrast between the real and the representational reflects either a desire to understand, something returned to the viewer, or an illusion—perhaps an annoyance at an optical image in the space, or just an indeterminate fact that insists on existing.

Steinunn Helga Sigurdardóttir was born in 1960. She grew up in Vík í Mýrdal in Iceland, studied at the Kunstakademiet in Iceland, and at the Kunstakademie in Düsseldorf under Jannis Kounellis. Steinunn has lived and worked in Denmark since 1993.

Steinunn works with drawings and sculptures. Her new works are a departure from her earlier work, which focused on minimalist installations exploring time and social aspects. Her new works emerge from the figurative, colorful, spiritual, and feminine, but also deal with the circumstances of the creative process. Her works are not delicate, feminine, or sweet—on the contrary, they are too much! There is a consistent pursuit of becoming overwhelming, sugary, and demanding—pushing the viewer to the edge of endurance or claustrophobia. But when one observes them long enough, a duality in their character emerges, and one surrenders. The innocent and the romantic, as well as the enigmatic and the spiritual, are brought to life.

Tillitz and Steinunn have collaborated in various contexts, including organizing Camp Lejre in 2001. They call their exhibition at Kirke Sonnerup no.1.

Maniacal Laughter 2 – “Conversations in Lines”

Galleri Kirke Sonnerup is pleased to present an exhibition featuring works by William Anthony and Anne Bennike.

Following the exhibition Maniacal Laughter in Kampur on Iceland in 2002, Anthony (USA, b. 1930) and Bennike (DK, b. 1974) have collaborated to create a series of drawings where their artistic lines meet and intertwine, producing new, surprising works. Their distinctly different yet related styles complement each other across differences in age and artistic background.

Through correspondence, drawings have been sent back and forth across the Atlantic, where William and Anne have created joint works in which their motifs interact in an almost symbiotic relationship. Anne Bennike says of their collaboration: “When Bill and I draw together, it’s like our communication is complete, we battle, dive beneath the surface into another language, and toss the ball back and forth in letters between the USA and Denmark.” As a supplement to this collaboration, they also exhibit individual, separate drawings.

William Anthony’s style is a fragile and naive form akin to a boy’s drawing, executed with an adult’s intelligence, often infused with humor and references to other art. William Anthony has been featured in Andy Warhol’s magazines. His line is both precise and uncertain, subtly distinctive—a style he has practiced for 40 years.

Anne Bennike has traveled extensively in Europe, Russia, the USA, and Africa, exploring themes from both the mainstream and the fringe of the art world. She works with themes of the unspoken and the overlooked. Bodily and dreamlike motifs weave through her works, balancing the boundary between reality and unreality.

The two artists share a common interest in drawing and its expression, playing with the childlike and the mature. Their first collaboration in Iceland developed into a friendship, inspiring them to share with a Danish audience what emerged from this unusual meeting. For both artists, the collaboration has been a shift in their artistic focus: for William as an experienced, established artist, and for Anne as a young artist in the early stages of her artistic career. The exhibition is displayed at Stalke Galleri’s new venue in Kirke Sonnerup, which is seen as an excellent initiative to introduce contemporary art in beautiful rural surroundings—a contrast to the pace of urban life. It is therefore the perfect setting for Maniacal Laughter 2.

Maniacal Laughter was developed by Gunnar Ørn and Sam Jedig.

New Art in Sonnerup

Two groups of artists now display their works in a double exhibition in Kirke Sonnerup.

Kirke Sonnerup: Tomorrow, Saturday, Galleri Kirke Sonnerup opens a double exhibition featuring Steinunn Helga Sigurdardóttir from Lejre and Morten Tillitz from Viby, along with joint drawings by William Anthony, USA, and Anne Bennike, Copenhagen.

Steinunn Sigurdardóttir showcases new works in the exhibition, which are figurative, overwhelming, and sweet. "They are too much! But when you look at them for a while, you surrender to the innocent and the enigmatic," says Sam Jedig from Galleri Kirke Sonnerup.

Her works represent a departure from earlier minimalist installations, which she also worked on during Camp Lejre 2001, where she created together with Morten Tillitz.

Tillitz's works mostly consist of plaster, paper, and watercolor. He creates new quirky spaces or shelves out of plaster panels, in which he paints anonymized figures.

The two artists, who were educated in Iceland and Aarhus respectively, call their exhibition no.1.

The second duo exhibition is titled Maniacal Laughter 2 – Conversations in Lines and is a continuation of an exhibition in Kampur, Iceland, last year. The two artists have created joint line drawings by sending their works back and forth across the Atlantic.

William Anthony has contributed to Andy Warhol's magazines, while Anne Bennike has traveled extensively, including in the USA.

The Sugary Sweet and the Fragmented View

Kirke Sonnerup: Steinunn Helga Sigurdardóttir, Lejre, and Morten Tillitz, Viby, were not looking to define art itself when they opened their exhibition at Galleri Kirke Sonnerup this weekend.

"You must decide for yourself what it is," says Steinunn Helga Sigurdardóttir. "But I made this because I was curious to see what I could do with it. Something that might not sit well with me. Otherwise, I have worked a lot with minimalistic art, but such projects do not always allow for the freedom to explore what lies within me," she says.

She is 43 years old and originally from Iceland, where she studied at the Art Academy. She also studied at the Kunstakademie in Düsseldorf, Germany, where she worked with drawing, sculpture, and installations. For the last eight years, she has lived in Denmark, where she has gained recognition for projects such as Camp Lejre and the website

But at Galleri Kirke Sonnerup, she is now exhibiting her drawings of sugary sweet girls and flowers on the walls, while Morten Tillitz shows anonymized portraits in cracked, curved, and tilting plaster panels.

"I started with people I know or know a lot about. These are friends, family, and acquaintances who gave me permission to enter their space in a way that others might not. Some of them are vulnerable individuals who have given me a room in their lives," says Morten Tillitz, 38, educated at the Jyske Kunstakademi and the Kunstakademie in Kiel.

The two have a joint exhibition in the large hall, while the walls in the room toward Englerupvej are filled with drawings by Anne Bennike, Copenhagen, and William Anthony, USA.

The 73-year-old American and 29-year-old Dane have sent drawings back and forth across the Atlantic for months, resulting in an exciting outcome.

RIV/Dagbladet