30.01.25 – 04.05.25

Just Kids

Children are more present than ever – in families, in public debates, and in the discussion between generations. However, the view of children and their position in society has changed significantly in recent decades, and there is a long distance from the "free flower children" of the hippie era and the 1980s’ Christiane F. to Greta Thunberg's "School Strike for Climate."

Under the title Just Kids, Gammel Strand launches its exhibition year with an experimental, generational perspective on children in visual art. Featuring the child as both a motif and a theme, Just Kids explores how perceptions of children have evolved over time and reveals how childhood, creativity, and innovation have been intricately tied to the very myth of the artist.

The exhibiting artists include Danish and international names such as Lene Adler Petersen (DK, b. 1944), Paul McCarthy (US, b. 1945), Esben Weile Kjær (DK, b. 1992), Ursula Reuter Christiansen (DE/DK, b. 1943), Signe Frederiksen (DK, b. 1987), Sidsel Meineche Hansen (DK, b. 1981), Pernille Clausen (DK, b. 1945), and Pope.L (US, b. 1955).

The title and ethos of the exhibition are drawn from Patti Smith's autobiographical novel Just Kids, which maps out artist myths and creativity in 1960s New York.

06.03.25 – 31.08.25

Rirkrit Tiravanija
A MILLION RABBIT HOLES

The recently concluded U.S. election likely signals a new political era with global consequences. With the total installation A MILLION RABBIT HOLES (2024), Rirkrit Tiravanija (b. 1961) has created a new work reflecting the feverish atmosphere and polarization currently gripping the United States.

Tiravanija is recognized as one of the most influential artists of his generation. A pioneer in participatory and community-based art, he has engaged audiences in shared experiences, from communal dinners to ping-pong matches.

This presentation marks the first in a new series, which will become a permanent part of the art hall's program in the coming years. Exhibitions in this series will be displayed in a dedicated space on the ground floor, each showcasing a single large-scale, immersive artwork.

22.05.25 – 31.08.25

Sara-Vide Ericson

Sara-Vide Ericson (SE, b. 1983) is one of the Nordic region’s most prominent younger painters. With a comprehensive solo exhibition at Gammel Strand, Ericson presents her largest exhibition to date. She creates large-scale figurative oil paintings inspired by her immediate surroundings in Hälsingland, northern Sweden.

Drawing from her own physical experiences, Ericson conjures a mythological visual universe that simultaneously appeals to primal instincts and raises existential questions. While she often includes herself in her paintings, she does not consider them self-portraits. Instead, she embodies an archetype, persistently questioning our relationship with the past, nature, ourselves, and one another.

With entirely new, extensive works created specifically for the top two floors of the art hall, visitors are invited into an artistic universe at the edge of prehistoric myths and the familiar scenes of everyday life.

22.05.25 – 31.08.25

Nanna Abell

Danish artist Nanna Abell (b. 1985) works with small, absurd juxtapositions of everyday objects and found materials, which she brings to life in new, surprising constellations. Abell’s works revive the overlooked beauty of the things we surround ourselves with, while also highlighting the absurdity in how we perceive, interact with, and navigate the world.

For her most comprehensive solo exhibition to date, Abell takes inspiration from the specific architectural framework of Gammel Strand, using the building as an organic raw material from which she extracts her works. Walls are doubled, colors are amplified, and scales are distorted in an exhibition that addresses resources, collapse, and human perception.

This exhibition is part of a new series at Gammel Strand that focuses on prominent Danish artists who are renewing and developing the field of sculpture. In 2024, the art hall presented an exhibition by Tove Storch (b. 1981), and in 2026, the series will conclude with an exhibition by Benedikte Bjerre (b. 1987).

18.09.25 – 11.01.26

Når vi døde vågner

I 2025 fylder Gammel Strand 200 år, og det markeres med en omfattende gruppeudstilling, der under titlen Når vi døde vågner, vender vrangen ud på kunsthallens arkiv og vækker Gammel Strands bidrag til den danske kunstscene til live.

Når vi døde vågner reaktiverer de værker og kunstnere, der er en del af Gammel Strands historie. På tværs af alle tre etager vises en perlerække af værker, der enten er skabt på foranledning af Gammel Strand eller nye kommissioner af nulevende kunstnere. Udstillingen præsenterer en tour de force gennem den danske kunsthistorie og spænder fra 1800-tallets centrale kunstnere som blandt andre C.W. Eckersberg, der også var en del af Gammel Strands grundlæggelse, til nogle af samtidens mest markante kunstnere.

Titlen Når vi døde vågner er hentet fra et teaterstykke af Henrik Ibsen. I 1998 dannede stykket afsæt for en udstilling på Gammel Strand med værker af Edvard Munch.

Pictures: Diego Marcon, La Banda di Crugnola (Have you checked the children), 2023. Courtesy the artist and Sadie Coles HQ, London. Photo: Philipp Hänger

Jacques-Henri Lartigue, Avenue du Bois de Boulogne Paris, 1911. From the exhibition Lartigue, Gammel Strand, 1989

Sara-Vide Ericson The Organ, 2023. Courtesy the artist Gallery V1