Henrik Have (1946–2014) was a Danish multimedia artist and writer whose practice moved freely between painting, sculpture, collage, objects, installations, and text. Rooted in Fluxus, minimalism, and process art, but also strongly connected to literature through his publishing house Edition After Hand (founded in 1973), Have developed a body of work that consistently explored fragmentation, abstraction, and the creation of meaning through material and language.
As early as 1987 he presented a major solo exhibition in Stalke’s project space in Copenhagen, and he was part of the very first group of artists shown by Stalke in its founding phase, alongside Torben Ebbesen, Margrete Sørensen, Mogens Møller, Thomas Bang, and Thorbjørn Lausten. The exhibition reflected his experimental approach, where drawing, painting, and writing interwove into works that resisted categorization and demanded a contemplative engagement from the viewer. His presence in the gallery’s early program was significant, positioning him as one of the artists who shaped the initial direction of Stalke Galleri.
Throughout his career, Henrik Have remained a restless and uncompromising figure in Danish art, never bound to a single style or tradition. His art was not concerned with depiction, but with the extension of frameworks—creating new images, reflections, and situations that opened up the relationship between viewer, work, and world. Today, he is remembered as a central figure in Danish contemporary art, whose practice bridged visual art and literature in ways that remain influential.
Henrik Have, Café Deaf, Stalke Project, 1987.