29 January – 3 May 2026
Daddy Issues

Confrontations with fatherhood and the role of the father are more present than ever in public debate, literature and pop culture. From earmarked "paternity leave" to pop stars’ reckonings with their fathers on social media. From Danish writer Glenn Bech to French author Édouard Louis. From the super dad to the no-show.

With the group exhibition Daddy Issues, Gammel Strand turns its attention to the role of the father. The relationship to the father is explored through a selection of works that, rooted in the personal and intimate, open up for collective reflections on the significance of fatherhood.

Daddy Issues zooms in on the father–child relationship in all its complexity: from conflict to reconciliation, abuse to care, idealisation to demonisation – and all the grey areas in between. Through sculpture, painting, film, photography and installation, 25 Danish and international artists map the landscape of fatherhood, for better and worse, from the 1950s to today, with a particular focus on contemporary art.

Participating artists:
Magnus Andersen (DK, 1987), Benedikte Bjerre (DK, 1987), Kaspar Bonnén (DK, 1968), Werner Büttner (DE, 1954), Robert Carter (UK, 1983), Adam Christensen (DK, 1979), Beth Collar (UK, 1984), Tracey Emin (UK, 1963), Asger Jorn (DK, 1914–73), Mette Hammer Juhl (DK, 1987), Éva Mag (RO, 1979), Kim Richard Adler Mejdahl (DK, 1989), Anna Munk (DK, 1994), Simon Dybbroe Møller (DK, 1976), Dennis Oppenheim (US, 1938–2011), Paola Paleari (IT, 1984), Michala Paludan (DK, 1983), Torben Ribe (DK, 1978), Rasmus Røhling (DK, 1982), Niki de Saint Phalle (FR, 1930–2002), Tora Schultz (DK, 1991), Selma Selman (BA, 1991), Alexander Tovborg (DK, 1983), Amelie von Wulffen (DE, 1966) and Markus Öhrn (SE, 1972).

5 March – 30 August 2026
Katharina Sieverding

Katharina Sieverding (CZ/DE, b. 1941) participated in Women’s Exhibition XX at Charlottenborg in 1975 and, alongside Marina Abramović and Inge Mahn, was one of the major international figures of the time. Although Sieverding is a highly significant artist who has played a decisive role in feminist art history, she has only rarely been exhibited in Denmark. Her “selfie” photographs and her continuation of pop art appear strikingly sharp and relevant today.

At Gammel Strand, the spectacular video work Life–Death (1969) is presented. The film is marked by an experimental approach: it was recorded without a script and features music by the cult band Kraftwerk. Just as the title links life and death with a hyphen, the work celebrates oppositions and fluid transitions – between night and day, between genders, and between life and death.

21 May - 30 August 2026
Benedikte Bjerre

With her iconic works featuring hens, penguins, flowers and bees, Benedikte Bjerre (DK, b. 1987) stands out as a bright talent on the Danish and international art scene. This summer, Gammel Strand presents the artist’s largest solo exhibition to date in Denmark, unfolding across two floors of the exhibition space and creating connections between new and existing works.

Within her artistic universe, Bjerre explores how humans navigate society – from the secure frameworks of the welfare state to chaotic global power structures. Working primarily with sculpture and installation, she employs a subtle, humorous visual language that, with satirical seriousness, examines how norms are formed and upheld. Audiences are invited into Bjerre’s speculative and imaginative world, where symbols and signs swirl within her conceptual, readymade-based practice.

21 May – 30 August 2026
Ursula Munch-Petersen

Ursula Munch-Petersen (DK, 1937–2025) was an artist at heart. She devoted her entire life to working with form, and across a practice that ranges from major public commissions to the widely loved URSULA tableware series, she explored themes such as climate, care, values and the most fundamental aspects of everyday life. Munch-Petersen built a rare bridge between free artistic thinking and functional design, allowing aesthetics, practicality, politics and rhythm to coexist within her work.

Born in Rønne on the island of Bornholm, she grew up closely connected to ceramic craft, an interest she carried with her from home. Later in life, she also experienced how sudden success led to demands for large-scale production, which challenged her artistic intentions and independence.

The exhibition at Gammel Strand is the first since the artist’s passing in 2025 and presents new perspectives on the work of one of Denmark’s most beloved ceramic artists.

17 September 2026 – 10 January 2027
Olivia Holm-Møller

Olivia Holm-Møller (DK, 1875–1970) dared to step into the open and the unknown – across life and art. She followed her dreams, returned home out of a sense of duty, yet never gave up herself or her painting. With a lifespan of nearly 100 years, she lived through a world undergoing rapid technological, political and artistic change. She also travelled widely at a time when travel was both unusual and demanding for a woman.

This exhibition gives centre stage to Olivia Holm-Møller: a courageous individual and a searching artist whose vital, richly coloured universe, charged with an almost contemporary spiritual energy, deserves full attention. The exhibition tells the story of an artist who stubbornly insisted on being sensitive without ever being weak, and who had the courage and strength to follow her own path. With a glint in her eye and a subtle, poetic symbolism, she conveyed both her sensitivity and her unyielding will to live. As she wrote in a letter in 1911: “I am as soft as butter and as brave as a hare.”

17 September 2026 – 10 January 2027
Still Joy

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine marks a clear before and after. A new world order is taking shape and a new Europe is emerging. In collaboration with PinchukArtCentre in Kyiv, Gammel Strand presents the exhibition Still Joy.

The exhibition takes its point of departure in intimate moments of joy across Ukraine. Three Ukrainian collectors of personal histories gather testimonies from people close to them, or from those who inspire them – individuals reflecting on what creates and sustains joy in life’s most difficult moments.

Amid the turmoil of war, joy emerges as a tender presence: an instinct to live, a reminder that we are here. Drawing on these collected testimonies, a group of Ukrainian and international artists create new works that speak of the body, memory, friendship, touch, taste, voice, desire and triumph –and of a vital necessity: a love of life. The exhibition is presented in Kyiv in February and at the Venice Biennale in May, before opening at Gammel Strand.

Photos:

Selma Selman, Ophelia’s Awakening, 2024. Courtesy of the artist & Art Collection Telekom. Photo: Marjorie Brunet Plaza.

Katharina Sieverding, still from Life–Death, 1969. VG Bild-Kunst. Courtesy of the artist & Galerie Thomas Schulte. Photo © Klaus Mettig, VG Bild-Kunst.

Benedikte Bjerre, A Camel in Schwamendingen, 2018. Commissioned by the City of Zurich Art in Public Space Programme. Courtesy of the artist & palaceenterprise.