What to visit in Copenhagen?
Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, is a city that breathes culture and history in every corner. Home to majestic palaces, picturesque canals and a vibrant food scene, this Scandinavian city also has a hidden treasure that attracts visitors and art enthusiasts from all over the world: its art galleries.
Copenhagen, with its innovative and progressive approach to life, is a magnet for artists of all disciplines, and its galleries are the perfect reflection of this diversity and creativity. Over the years, these institutions have established themselves as pillars of the city's art scene, exhibiting works ranging from renowned masters to visionary contemporary artists. In this article, we invite you to join us on a fascinating journey through Copenhagen's art galleries, where you will discover a world of colors, shapes and ideas.
V1 Gallery
V1 Gallery represents a select group of established and emerging artists in a modern location within Copenhagen's Meatpacking District. You will find a variety of works of art in all mediums, including painting, sculpture, installation and photography, among others.
V1 Gallery was founded in 2002 in Copenhagen, Denmark. The gallery represents a select group of established and emerging artists and is committed to promoting art. Today, the gallery has two locations, V1 Gallery and Eighteen, in Copenhagen's central Meatpacking District.
The gallery describes itself as presenting work that provokes discussion and wants to give a platform to artists who interact with the society of which they are a part. The program changes regularly, with solo and group exhibitions, which generally last one to two months.
Galleri Nicolai Wallner
Galleri Nicolai Wallner is a contemporary art gallery exhibiting innovative international art. The gallery works with a diverse group of artists working in different media. In this way, artists are defined as a group not so much by a shared aesthetic, but more by a common desire to express content, tell a story, and leave a mark on an otherwise volatile world. Many artists featured by the gallery have gained international recognition and have had their works exhibited in galleries, museums and biennials across Europe, America and Asia.
Galleri Bo Bjerggaard
Galleri Bo Bjerggaard is located in the Meatpacking district in the Vesterbro area of Copenhagen. The space is perfect for displaying paintings, which are the gallery's main focus, among other forms of international contemporary art from Europe and America.
Galleri Bo Bjerggaard was founded in 1999 by Morten Korsgaard, Britt Bjerggaard and Bo Bjerggaard. Initially located in the center of Copenhagen, in 2007 the gallery moved to a larger location in the Meatpacking district of Vesterbro. The gallery presents international contemporary art from Europe and America. Although its main focus is contemporary painting, the gallery also exhibits sculpture, photography, video and installations.
Upon entering the space, you can understand why the owners chose to be here - the wide white walls are the perfect neutral backdrop to get lost in large canvases. When viewing past exhibitions, the space can also be lit with great dramatic effect to create a contrasting feel when displaying sculptures and other media. Such a large space offers the opportunity to show two parallel exhibitions and at the same time have the ability to showcase the gallery's inventory.
The exhibitions at Galleri Bo Bjerggaard are constantly changing, but among the best-known Danish artists represented are Per Kirkby, Per Bak Jensen, Ivan Andersen, John Kørner and Erik Steffensen, among others. International big names include Georg Baselitz, Sigmar Polke, Gerhard Richter, Jonathan Meese and Jannis Kounellis, to name just a few. The gallery also participates in international art fairs throughout Europe and North America and offers visitors vital insight into both local and international contemporary artists.
Martin Asbæk Gallery
Martin Asbæk Gallery was founded in 2005 by Martin Asbæk and focuses on Scandinavian and international contemporary art, featuring established and emerging artists working in a wide range of media, including painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, video and embroidery.
Since its founding, Galeria Martin Asbæk has participated in several art fairs in Europe and the United States, including Paris Photo, VOLTA NY/Basel, The Armory Show NY, Art Brussels, among others. The artists represented by Martin Asbæk have exhibited their work in biennials, museums and galleries around the world and are now present in important public and private collections.
Peter Lav Galleri og LARMgalleri
In Bredgade, on Skt. Annæ Passage, you will find more newly arrived galleries. Peter Lav Gallery and LARMgalleri are located in shared premises on the first floor. The Peter Lav Gallery is one of the few photography galleries found in Copenhagen. The gallery, which has been around since 2006 and moved to Bredgade in 2009, showcases a range of world-class photographers. LARMgalleri was founded in 2005 and showcases new artists, mainly from Denmark. The style is young, often provocative and political.
Edition Copenhagen
Edition Copenhagen is a lithographic workshop, where you can purchase original prints and lithographs. For over 60 years, Edition Copenhagen has been producing original prints. Today, they are one of the leading lithographic workshops in the world, with a waiting list of artists wanting to work.
At the gallery, located in a characteristic building in Copenhagen's Christianshavn district, you can browse the hundreds of works of art they completed together with the artist and choose a piece to take home. Behind the scenes of the gallery is the workshop where the magic happens. The vision is to create a place where artists can work freely to continue developing the printing process and maintain knowledge of lithography as a unique tool of artistic expression. At Edition Copenhagen, they work with both new and emerging artists and established artists.
Galleri Christoffer Egelund
Galleri Christoffer Egelund is a cutting-edge art gallery that focuses on high quality Scandinavian and international contemporary art. An experimental and innovative approach is an important part of the gallery's agenda, with the constant aim of challenging the limits of the gallery itself and the art scene itself. The gallery displays works of art in a wide variety of media, such as works on paper, photos, paintings, sculptures, performance and video — a unique artistic expression is of paramount importance.
The featured artists have received wide recognition from curators, collectors, museums and critics, and their works have been exhibited in important collections, biennials, art fairs, art museums and galleries around the world.
The gallery's main objective is to create memorable exhibitions and advance the careers of emerging contemporary artists through curating exhibitions, participating in art fairs and biennials around the world.
Galleri Christoffer Egelund was founded in 2003 by owner and director Christoffer M. Egelund and is located in the historic part of Copenhagen, with 300m² of exhibition space and high ceilings. The area is home to many contemporary galleries, the National Gallery of Denmark, the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, art institutes and the Danish Art Council, making this area one of the most important contemporary art scenes in Denmark. The gallery has been a member of the Danish Art Dealers Association (DGS) since 2006.
Gallery Poulsen
Gallery Poulsen was founded by Morten Poulsen in 2003 and currently represents over 25 emerging, mid-career and established artists, mainly belonging to the younger generation. Our program focuses on a disciplined figurative approach across a variety of media, including painting, drawing, sculpture, photography and printmaking.
In 2010, Gallery Poulsen moved to Copenhagen's Meatpacking District and in March 2017 took over a former slaughterhouse in the cobblestone streets of the oldest part of the district, which houses museum-quality exhibitions in an international atmosphere.
Gallery Poulsen's mission to provide a contemplative space for the more adventurous art audience is reflected in the 8-10 solo and group exhibitions we present annually. Through hyperrealistic and intricate figurative compositions, these exhibitions investigate the boundaries between reality and fiction in ways that rethink traditional notions of painting, sculpture and drawing. Drawing on these same traditions, Poulsen artists use a wide variety of skills in their search for new narrative languages to represent the complex forces that make up contemporary life.
In addition to internal exhibitions, Gallery Poulsen participates in international art fairs such as Volta New York and Basel, Art Miami, Seattle Art Fair and many others. Thanks to more than a decade of participation on the international stage and building a strong global network, we regularly place works in collections around the world, as our artists participate in exhibitions with other leading galleries and institutions around the world.
Nils Stærk
In the northwest part of Copenhagen, there is a strong representation of both Danish and international contemporary art. The man behind it is Nils Stærk.
In 1997, Nils Stærk opened his first gallery in his own three-bedroom apartment in Frederiksberg. He had a keen eye for emerging artists and soon became an important figure on the contemporary art scene in Scandinavia and the Americas.
Since then, the gallery has moved and expanded and is now located in the northwest part of Copenhagen. The building used to house a car dealership, but now contains over 500 square meters of some of the most renowned contemporary artists' exhibitions. The gallery holds around 5 solo exhibitions per year, in addition to a showroom with varied presentations.
The raw industrial vibe of the northwest, in combination with the newly renovated building and its minimalist decor designed by architects Henning Larsen, fits perfectly with the gallery's artistic profile. Nils Stærk represents established artists working in different media, genres and approaches. Their common focus is conceptual storytelling, as well as the critical investigation and dissemination of current values and conflicts in today's globalized society.
Bredgade Art Dealer
Bredgade Art Dealer is probably the oldest art gallery in Copenhagen. The gallery is located on Copenhagen's number 1 art street, Bredgade. With around 7 exhibitions per year, they showcase contemporary art with a focus on young and established artists from the North Atlantic sphere. They also feature glass sculptures, street art and hyperrealism, among other artistic styles.