10 Years In Stalke Galleri, Part 1
Lawrence Weiner, William Anastasi, Les Levine, Dove Bradshaw, Finn Reinbothe, Klaus Jorn, Torben Ebbesen, Per Bak Jensen, Thorbjørn Lausten, Gunnar Örn, Albert Mertz, Henrik Have, Stefan Caltia, Ole Broager, Jesper Christiansen, Thomas Bang, Marianne Hesselbjerg, Freddie Holm Nikolajsen, Finn Reinbothe, Giancarlo Savino, Ian Schjals, Margrete Sørensen,
10 year In Stalke Galleri, Part 2
Thorbjørn Bechmann, Flemming Brusgaard, Lars Buchardt, Olafur Eliasson, Michael Elmgreen, Nils Erik Gjerdevik, Peter Holst Henckel, Tine Haurum, Thilo Heizmann, Ulrik Heltoft, Henrik S. Holck, kristian Von Hornsleth, Frans Jacobi, Joachim Koester, Eva Larssom, Ann Kristin Lislegaard, Lars Mathisen, Peter Neuchs, Morten Nielsen, Kaj Nyborg, Jean Francois Octave, Henrik Olesen, Manfred Pernice, Lars Bent Petersen, Hans Peterson, Tal R, Nikolaj Recke, Gunter Reski, Peter Rössell, Anika Ström, Klaus Thejl, Sam Jedig, Per Traasdahl, Ivar Tønsberg, Susan Hinum, m.f.
Stalke Galleri, Vesterbrogade 14A
1997-1998
Between 1987 and 1997, Stalke Gallery arranged more than 100 exhibitions and projects. This decade was celebrated with two comprehensive anniversary exhibitions, the first of which openedon Friday, November 21.
Looking back at Stalke’s first ten years, the gallery’s focus was strongly rooted in conceptual art, with exhibitions featuring international artists such as Lawrence Weiner, Joseph Kosuth, Les Levine, and William Anastasi.
From the Danish art scene, Stalke worked with artists including Thomas Bang, Torben Ebbesen, Margrete Sørensen, Thorbjørn Lausten, among many others, whose works were also shown at the extensive anniversary exhibition opening on Friday, November 21.
In the late 1980s, Stalke began collaborating with a younger generation of artists. Lars Bent Petersen, Olafur Eliasson, Peter Rössell, Peter Neusch, Christian Schmidt-Rasmussen, and Peter Holst Henckel were among the artists Stalke chose to exhibit at that time.
At the time of the anniversary exhibitions, Stalke Galleri worked across multiple generations. Frans Jacobi, Torben Ebbesen, Per Bak Jensen, Olafur Eliasson, Thorbjørn Lausten, William Anastasi, Nils Erik Gjerdevik, Lars Bent Petersen, Lars Mathisen, and Margrete Sørensen formed part of the gallery’s core group of artists.
Artists Represented at the Opening on November 21, 1997
William Anastasi, Lawrence Weiner, Thomas Bang, Dove Bradshaw, Ole Broager, Stefan Caltia, Jesper Christiansen, Chuck Collings, Torben Ebbesen, Osmund Hansen, Henrik Have, Marianne Hesselbjerg, Per Bak Jensen, Klaus Jom, Thorbjørn Lausten, Les Levine, Albert Mertz, Freddie Holm Nikolajsen, Finn Reinbothe, Giancarlo Savino, Ian Schjals, Margrete Sørensen, Gunnar Örn
Artists Represented at the Opening on January 9, 1998
Thorbjørn Beckmann, Flemming Brusgaard, Lars Buchardt, Olafur Eliasson, Michael Elmgreen, Nils Erik Gjerdevik, Tine Haurum, Thilo Heinzmann, Ulrik Heltoft, Peter Holst Henckel, Susan Hinnum, Henrik S. Holck, Kristian Von Homsleth, Sam Jedig, Frans Jacobi, Joachim Koester, Eva Larsson, Ann Kristin Lislegaard, Lars Mathisen, Peter Neuchs, Morten Nielsen, Kaj Nyborg, Jean-Francois Octave, Henrik Olesen, Manfred Pernice, Lars Bent Petersen, Hans Petersson, Christian Schmidt-Rasmussen, Tal R., Nikolaj Recke, Gunter Reski, Peter Rössell, Annika Ström, Klaus Thejll, Per Traasdahl, Ivar Tønsberg.
Exhibition view from 10 Years in Stalke Galleri, part 1, showing Lawrence Weiner’s wall text “A Wall Toppled With Weight Brought to Bear From the Other Side” in combination with a sculptural installation by Torben Ebbesen. The dialogue between language and material form emphasizes the conceptual foundation of the anniversary exhibition
Exhibition views from 10 Years in Stalke Galleri, Part 1 (1997), showing a range of paintings, sculptures, and installations presented together to mark the gallery’s 10th anniversary
History by Sam Jedig
10 Years at Stalke Galleri
Stalke Gallery is celebrating its first 10 years by showcasing a selection of artists who have collaborated with Stalke during this period.
The event will be marked by two major exhibitions:
- The first exhibition will primarily revisit the artists exhibited by Stalke during the period 1987-91.
- The second exhibition, opening on January 9, 1998, will showcase the younger generation of artists that Stalke began working with in 1989.
Stalke Gallery was founded in the fall of 1987 and has since held over 100 different exhibitions. Stalke has been characterized by four different activity areas: Stalke Gallery, Stalke Project, Stalke Art Trade, and Stalke Out Of Space.
A little retrospective on Stalke will also have its place.
In 1986, Joachim Rothenborg had an exhibition at Gallery Jedig, which during the period 1982-87 was located at Admiralgade.
At this time, Joachim Rothenborg was at the School of Visual Art in New York, which led to the exhibition "New York in Copenhagen." This exhibition showcased works by young New York artists.
Joachim Rothenborg and I subsequently agreed that the time was right to create an entirely new gallery project.
At that time, Copenhagen had only a handful of good galleries, and we soon agreed to create a gallery space where the focus would be on making Danish art more international while also inviting foreign artists to Denmark.
The gallery was to be named "Stalke" after Tarkovsky's film "Stalker" (1980). The film's title character, Stalker, the wanderer, symbolizes the free space between worlds.
The first exhibition program was announced, and some of the artists associated with Stalke were: Torben Ebbesen, Thorbjørn Lausten, Thomas Bang, Henrik Have, Mogens Møller, Dorte Dahlin, Margrete Sørensen, and Osmund Hansen.
From New York, Stalke also introduced artists such as William Anastasi, Lawrence Weiner, and Michael Goldberg, thereby establishing contact with the Danish art audience.
Jean-François Octave from Belgium, following his participation in the Venice Biennale the previous year, became one of the European artists we also began to work with.
Conceptual Art and Minimal Art flourished again in the late 1980s on the art scene, and this was where Stalke focused its efforts. The introduction of these directions in Denmark was linked to a close circle of Danish artists who could find an overarching commonality in Stalke Gallery, which together helped give the gallery its profile.
At Stalke, attention was drawn to the lack of visibility of Danish art abroad, and it was decided to begin participating in international art fairs in Europe. Examples include Art Cologne, Art Frankfurt, and Hamburg KunstForum, which at the time were some of the leading art fairs in Europe.
Among several significant exhibitions, one of the first was the pleasure of opening with a project by Lawrence Weiner in collaboration with Albert Mertz, followed by exhibitions by Torben Ebbesen, Thomas Bang, Thorbjørn Lausten, Margrete Sørensen, Alpo Kakola, and William Anastasi.
Due to the upswing and the great attention Stalke received, it was decided to move to larger and better premises at Vesterbrogade 15.
After four months of renovating 600 square meters of gallery space, it was set up to be one of the most interesting gallery projects in years.
During the same period, 1989-1990, Stalke also held larger exhibitions with artists partially connected to the 1980s generation.
This includes exhibitions featuring, among others: Henrik B. Andersen, Nina Sten-Knudsen, and Per Bak Jensen.
At the same time, we participated with great success in Hamburg Kunstforum, where we had the pleasure of presenting a solo project by Lawrence Weiner.
In 1990, the gallery expanded with Stalke Out Of Space. Outside the traditional confines of the gallery, we were able to address the current situation of art in a more consistent way.
With Stalke Out Of Space, we aimed to meet the art's need for unconventional exhibition spaces as well as for innovative promotion.
Several galleries worldwide realized during these years that the "exhibition space" and thus its form needed to adapt to keep up with the diversity of artistic expression. Among these galleries, an example is Galerie Daniel Buchholz in Cologne.
In the winter of 1990-91, Stalke held the exhibition Tilbageblik ("Retrospective"). An exhibition that would mark the beginning of the Stalke Out Of Space concept.
With real carpets, prism chandeliers, mahogany desks, and old lamps, the exhibition space was transformed into one large installation. The works were hung together, in the manner of old salon hangings, with the artists' works interwoven from floor to ceiling.
One of the significant projects during the period 1991-93 was Paradise Europe, which became a collaboration with Biz Art.
Paradise Europe was a project involving several international galleries from New York, Rome, and Cologne. Stalke participated with Olafur Eliasson, Lars Bent Petersen, Michael Elmgreen, and Henrik Olesen.
Another project with Stalke Out Of Space was at the Stockholm Art Fair in March 1991. Here, artists from Baggusetcreated a challenging installation where the exhibition space itself was integrated into the artistic practice.
The following artists from Bagguset participated: Jes Brinch, Peter Holst Henckel, Joachim Koester, Peter Neuchs, Lars Bent Petersen, Peter Rössell, and Christian Schmidt-Rasmussen.
Additionally, Olafur Eliasson, Elmgreen/Olesen, Christine Melchiors, and Eva Larsson participated.
The project likewise became an important signal for many of Stalke's future activities.
Stalke Art Trade and Showroom subsequently found their place in smaller spaces, while Stalke Out Of Space expanded outward.
It was a very inspiring period where a blossoming could be seen in the young art generation.
Stalke thus had the pleasure of once again placing itself centrally in the art debate.
Other Stalke Out Of Space projects during this period included 17:00 CET with Lars Bent Petersen, Ann Kristin Lislegaard, Olafur Eliasson, Christine Melchiors, Elmgreen/Olesen, and Joachim Koester.
At Art Cologne, we presented Torben Ebbesen and William Anastasi.
Another project, which was initiated, took place at Gammeldok. It was a project by Chuck Collings from the USA
At Stalke Art Trade, exhibitions included works by Christian Schmidt-Rasmussen and William Anastasi, the latter with his highly insistent and original project: I OWN WAR.
In the period 1994-1995, there arose a need to expand Stalke's permanent gallery space, which resulted in new premises totaling 500 square meters on the other side of Vesterbrogade.
After three months of intensive restoration work, the new space was ready, and in February 1994, all of Stalke's activities were gathered under one roof. During this period, Camilla Rohde began working at the gallery.
Olafur Eliasson and Lars Bent Petersen soon held their first solo exhibitions in the new exhibition space.
After following Stalke's development for a long time, both in visual art and painting, Kim Bendixen decided to invest his energy in the gallery, and exhibitions were subsequently planned with, among others, Nils Erik Gjerdevik, Frans Jacobi, Lars Mathisen, Torben Ebbesen, and Margrete Sørensen.
In January 1996, the Stalke exhibition Coming Up was launched. Once again, an exhibition that provided an interesting "break" in a longer series of exhibitions.
A selection of the already established 1990s generation, whom Stalke had exhibited before, were invited to each select a younger or contemporaneous artist. Not as an attempt to define the impossible, but rather to show the audience what visual art might point toward in the near future.
William Anastasi, who had collaborated with Stalke for the entire 10 years, held his largest European exhibition in 1996. This occurred through a collaboration between Galleri Anders Tornsberg in Sweden and Stalke Gallery. The exhibition featured works from the period 1964-1996.
In 1996, Stalke, in collaboration with Galleri Specta, participated in Art Cologne, providing Peter Røssell with his largest solo presentation outside of Denmark. The same year saw another "younger" project, this time featuring selected artists from Galleri NEU in Berlin.
In 1997, Stalke went to Stockholm and participated in that year's Art Fair with Nils Erik Gjerdevik.
The next international art event in 1997 brought Stalke Gallery to Art Forum Berlin, in collaboration with Frans Jacobiand Nils Erik Gjerdevik, for a joint project.
Now we are approaching 1998, and before we dive into the future, it is a pleasure to thank the many who have brought inspiration and creativity to the gallery.
Many exhibitions and projects have made it interesting to look back, and our collaboration with artists from different generations has provided unique opportunities for insight into artistic development.
Unfortunately, it has not been possible to mention all exhibitions, projects, and names in the above text.
Therefore, the names of all the artists who, to date, have exhibited or participated in Stalke's projects can be found on the last pages of the catalog.
Stil from the video Sweet Susie by Susan Hinnum featuring Sarah Young, shown at Stalke Galleri’s 10th anniversary exhibition. The piece combines performance and media imagery in a minimalist video installation exploring identity and representation.
Stalke
Attention is also drawn to Stalke Galleri's opening today from 3:00 PM to 8:00 PM at Vesterbrogade 14 A, basement.
Here, in celebration of the gallery's 10th anniversary, visitors can see works by 32 young artists, including a video featuring the artist Susan Hinnum performing alongside "porn queen" Sarah Young.
I might disappoint some male readers by noting that both are fully clothed.
Exhibition views from 10 Years in Stalke Galleri, Part 2 (1998), including Olafur Eliasson’s mirrored light installations alongside works by other participating artists. The exhibition brought together diverse conceptual and spatial practices marking the gallery’s 10th anniversary.
History book over Stalke Galleri from 1987 to 1997, Text by Olafur Eliasson, Frans Jacobi and Torben Ebbesen, Original Design by Peter Røssell and Mikael Jensen, Publisher Stalke Edition,
Edition 1000,
Invitation card, Sam Jedig in Olafur Eliasson’s kaleidoscopic installation, surrounded by artist names from ‘10 Years at Stalke
Fax from Lawrence Weiner to Stalke Galleri for the gallery’s 10th anniversary, referencing the 1984 work A Wall Toppled With Weight Brought to Bear From the Other Side.