Artist Statement & CV
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GALLERIES:
Galerie WolfsenKøbenhavns KunsthandelFrançois Xavier Bertrand - Maison d’Art
ABOUT:
Malene Hartmann Rasmussen studied at the Royal Danish Academy in her native Denmark before relocating to London and receiving an MA at Royal College of Art in 2011. She has exhibited in numerous exhibitions in the United Kingdom and abroad including at Vehbi Koç Foundation, Mesher, Turkey; Michelangelo Foundation, Italy, Fondation Bernardaud, France and CLAY Museum of Ceramic Art Denmark. In 2018 she was awarded a residency at the Victoria & Albert Museum, where she produced a body of work inspired by the oeuvre of sixteenth century French potter, Bernard Palissy. Hartmann Rasmussen lives and works in London and south-west France.
Malene Hartmann Rasmussen is a Danish artist working within the field of narrative figurative sculpture and installation. A recurring theme in her work is the forest and the mythological creatures that lurk in the dark woods.
She weaves together notions of memories, daydreams and childhood nostalgia into a fairy-tale of her own making. Hartmann Rasmussen’s interest in the forest stems from its recurrence in European literature and myth, ancient cults, pagan rituals, and as a metaphor for the hidden realms of the unconscious mind. Comprising a number of elaborate fragments, she creates tableaux of visual excess through which she seeks to evoke an emotional response in the viewer and actuate their imagination.
Her work draws on the idea of animism; that animals and plants have a soul and that rivers, mountains and rocks, if not actually alive, are in some way sentient. She is interested in the human subconscious and strives to create a hyper-real world that addresses this gap between perception and reality. Her ornate ceramics may initially appear excessively sweet, but upon closer inspection reveal themselves as impossible and absurd objects, imbued with the artist’s own dark narrative. As a form of catharsis, the artist tries to exorcise misery, anger, and grief – as if they were demons – emotions which relate to the loss of her father and mother and the memories of a time now passed.
2009-2011
MA, Royal College of Art, London. United Kingdom.
2006-2009
BA, The Royal Danish Academy - Design, Bornholm, Denmark.
MUSEUM ACQUISITIONS & PUBLIC ARTWORK:
Musée de Carouge, Geneve, Switzerland.
CLAY Keramikmuseum, Middelfart, Denmark.
Aberdeen Art Gallery, Aberdeen, United Kingdom.
Swindon Museum, Swindon, United Kingdom.
Harris Museum, Preston, United Kingdom.
Hjorths Keramikfabrik, Bornholms Museum, Rønne, Denmark.
ICRC Guldagergaard, Skælskør, Denmark.
Public Artwork for Ringsted Musik -og Kulturskole, Ringsted, Denmark.
ARTIST RESIDENCIES & AWARDS:
2022 Artist in Residence, Hjorths, Bornholms Museum, Rønne, Denmark.
2020
Artist in Residence, Detroit, Danish Arts Foundation’s AIR programme in USA.
2018
Danish Ceramics Residency, Victoria & Albert Museum, United Kingdom.
2015
Jerwood Makers Open 2015, Jerwood Visual Arts, London, United Kingdom.
2014
Craft Emergency 2014, Aspex Gallery, Portsmouth, United Kingdom.
2021/2020/2016/2011/2008
Artist in Residence, ICRC Guldagergaard, Skælskør, Denmark.
GRANTS:
2025/2024/2023/2022/2018/2016/2013
Statens Kunstfonds Arbejdslegat
2021
Nationalbankens Jubilæumsfond
Esther & Jep Finks Mindefond
2006
Nationalbankens Jubilæumsfond
Augustinusfonden
Dansk Tennis Fond
SOLO/DUO EXBITIONS:
2026
Brutes, Gallery James Freeman, London, United Kingdom.
2025
Hjernetåger, Centre Céramique Contemporaine, La Borne, France.
2024
Fieldwork - in the footsteps of Gertrud Kudielka, Hjorths Keramikfabrik Bornholms Museum, Rønne, Denmark.
2022
Solo Exhibition, Galerie Wolfsen, Aalborg, Denmark.
2019
New Works, Solo udstilling, Messums London, London, United Kingdom.
2016
Waldeinsamkeit, Solo exhibition, Aspex Gallery, Portsmouth, United Kingdom.
2015
I Skovens Dybe Stille Uro, Officinet, København, Denmark.
2014
Nightfall, Solo exhibition, Jessica Carlisle, London, United Kingdom.
SELECTION EXHIBITIONS:
2025
Enter Art Fair, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Contemporary Danish Ceramics, Messums West, Tisbury, United Kingdom.
Art Herning, with Galerie Wolfsen, Denmark.
2024
Dantes inferno, Unit, Mayfair, London, United Kingdom.
Enter Art Fair, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Burn the Witch, Fitzrovia Chapel, Tin Man Art, London, United Kingdom.
Ulven, Galerie Wolfsen, Aalborg, Denmark.
Nomad, with Daguet-Bresson, St Moritz, Switzerland.
London Art Fair, with Tin Man Art, London, United Kingdom.
Group Exhibition, Galerie Wolfsen, Aalborg, Denmark.
Art Herning, with Galerie Wolfsen, Denmark.
2023
Tales From the Riverbank, Tin Man Art, London, United Kingdom.
PAD London, with Daguet-Bresson, London, United Kingdom.
PAD Paris, with Daguet-Bresson, Paris, France.
2022
Figurine, Hjorths, Bornholms Museum, Rønne, Denmark.
Cat, SPECTA, København, Denmark.
You Know Who?, Abdülmecid Efendi Mansion, Istanbul, Türkiye.
Christian Louboutin L'exhibition[iste], Grimaldi Forum, Monaco.
2021
Nature. Traces & Reflections, Clay - Museum for Ceramic Art Denmark, Middelfart, Denmark.
More Organics, Keramiekcentrum Tiendschuur Tegelen, Tegelen, The Netherlands.
2020
Beyond the Vessel, Messums Wiltshire, Tisbury, United Kingdom.
Christian Louboutin L’exhibition[iste], Palais de la Porte Dorée, Paris, France.
2019
Beyond the Vessel, Mesher, Vehbi Koç Foundation, Istanbul, Türkiye.
Zarte Flügel, Dicke Brummer – Insekten und Sonstiges Getier in der Keramik,
Museum Keramion, Frechen, Germany.
2018
Dialogues Through Time, Tresor, Wildt’sches Haus, Basel, Switzerland.
London Design Festival, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, United Kingdom.
Homo Faber, Michelangelo Foundation, Fondazione Giorgio Cine, Venice, Italy.
Material Earth II: Myth, Material & Metamorphosis, Messums Wiltshire, Tisbury, United Kingdom.
2017
Award, British Ceramics Biennial, Stoke-on-Trent, United Kingdom.
C’est le Bouquet! (Flower Power!), Fondation Bernardaud, Limoges, France.
Material: Earth - The New British Clay Movement, Messums Wiltshire, Tisbury, United Kingdom.
Collect, Collect Open, Saatchi Gallery, London, United Kingdom.
2015
European Prize for Applied Arts 2015, WCC-BF, Mons, Belgium.
Jerwood Makers Open 2015, Jerwood Visual Arts, London, United Kingdom.
Animism, Jessica Carlisle Gallery, London, United Kingdom.
59th Faenza Prize - International Competition of Contemporary Ceramic Art 2015 Faenza, Italy.
2014
Craft Emergency 2014, Aspex Gallery, Portsmouth, United Kingdom.
La XXIIIème Biennale Internationale de Céramique de Vallauris, Vallauris, France.
Officine Saffi - International Competition for Ceramics and Design, Milano, Italy.
2013
Wonderland, Milton Keynes Arts Centre, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom.
Award, British Ceramics Biennial 2013, Stoke-on-Trent, United Kingdom.
The Biennale for Craft & Design, Rundetårn, København, Denmark.
2012
This Is How To Live, The National Trust, Red House & 2 Willow Road, London, United Kingdom.
2010
1:1 Architects Build Small Spaces, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, United Kingdom.