BIOGRAPHY

A graduate of The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, visual artist Theis Wendt (b. 1981, Denmark) lives and works in Copenhagen.

Applying a broad range of materials – both the organic and the synthetic – Wendt’s creative process combines sculpture, installation and post-photography into illusionary works that demand viewers’ careful examination. Here, materials seem to mimic others, and faint impressions of nature are conjured by digital means. As with any image, looked upon with any first glance, things are rarely as they appear.

Central to Wendt’s practice are age-old questions of authenticity; his works assert that our relationship to the world – and understandings of reality – have been significantly altered by a seismic shift in the tools with which we access it. The motif of the frame, or of the window, then, becomes a recurrent reminder of the stifling structures through which we continue to think and see. But beyond addressing the dystopian challenges we face, from ecological degradation to the ceaseless grip of capitalism, Wendt’s works maintain a romantic quality, pointing to something else on the horizon – something better, perhaps, if we can find the tools to imagine it.

CURRICULUM VITAE

Theis Wendt

Born 1981 in Copenhagen

Based in Copenhagen

EDUCATION:
2002-2008: MFA, The Royal Danish Art Academy, Copenhagen, DK
2001-2002: Contemporary Art Practice, Metáfora Centro d'Art Contemporany, Barcelona, ES

PUBLIC COMMISSIONS:
Banedanmark, Ringsted, Dk, 2020

SELECTED SOLO SHOWS:

Fabrikken Afd. AC, Copenhagen DK, 2024 (TBA)

The Ravestijn Gallery, Amsterdam NL, 2024 (TBA)

Texere, Paris-B, Paris FR, 2023

Windows Afloat, Galeria Kernel, Cáceres, SP 2020
Negative Meadow, Kunsthal Nord, Ålborg, DK 2019
Art Rotterdam, Rotterdam, NL, 2018
Synthetic Reveries, CINNNAMON, Rotterdam, NL, 2017
Synthetic Reveries, Projektrum D7, Copenhagen DK, 2017
Lawn Dreamer, CINNNAMON, Rotterdam, NL, 2015
Excavation, Andersen's Contemporary, Copenhagen DK, 2014
On-Tilted, Traneudstillingen, Gentofte DK, 2013
Swarm, Object This Picture, Copenhagen DK, 2012
Smudge, Minuit Vernissage, Copenhagen DK, 2012
Phantasm, Ringsted Galleriet, Ringsted DK, 2011
Global Lokalitet: Frozen Reflection, NLH Space, Copenhagen DK, 2011
Gray Trampled Grass. Gray Snow, Gallery Christoffer Egelund, Copenhagen DK, 2011
Animals That From Afar Look Like Flies, Gallery Teapot, Køln DE, 2010
Volta5, Gallery Christoffer Egelund, Basel CH, 2009
ROOM!, Gallery Koh-I-Noor, Copenhagen DK, 2008
One with face - one without, Gallery Christoffer Egelund, Copenhagen DK, 2007

SELECTED GROUP SHOWS:
One of a Kind, The Ravestijn Gallery, Amsterdam NL, 2022
A Sketch for a Dream, Muusmann, Copenhagen DK, 2022
Exclamation Mark, The Ravestijn Gallery, Amsterdam NL, 2022
Cup, QB Gallery, Oslo NO, 2021
Para Que Haya Fiesta Tiene Que Danzar El Bosque, TEA, Tenerife SP, 2021
Miradas del Norte, Galeria Kernel, Caceres SP, 2021
The Star Show, D7, Copenhagen, DK, 2019
Boarding Galleries, Antwerpen, BE, 2018
Void, The Grey Space, The Hague, NL, 2018
The Malphigian Layer, CAR DRDE, Bologna, IT, 2018
News at Last, Andersen’s Contemporary, Copenhagen, DK, 2017
Submerge, Nordic Contemporary, Paris, FR, 2017
What is left Behind, Akershuskunstsenter, Lillestrøm, NO, 2017
Strange Ecologies, X and Beyond, Copenhagen, DK, 2017
Add Space Between, Petra Gut Contemporary, Zurich, CH, 2016
The Essential Bruce Springsteen, Andersen's Contemporary, Copenhagen, DK, 2015
Different Strokes for Different Folks, Galleri Kant, Copenhagen, DK, 2015
Artissima, CINNNAMON, TURIN, IT , 2015
Wintermute, Grimm Gallery, Amsterdam, NL, 2015
These Walls, Gallery Jacob Bjorn, Aarhus, DK, 2015
Åbningsudstillingen af CINNNAMON, Rotterdam, NL, 2015
Corrosive Thoughts (Duoudstilling med Agnete Bertram), Danske Grafikere, Copenhagen, DK, 2015
Withdrawn (Withdrawn), Torpedo18, DK, 2014
Mediations Biennial, San Diego Art Institute, San Diego, USA, 2014
Still Waters Run Deep - Skulptur Triennale, Brandts, Odense, DK, 2014
In Case We Don't Die, Torrance Art Museum, Los Angeles, US, 2013
Thisted Biennalen, Thisted, DK, 2013
#, Raid Projects, L.A USA, 2012:
Paper Match, Halmlageret Carlsberg, Copenhagen, DK, 2012:
Rum, Holsterbro Kunstmuseum, Holsterbro, DK, 2012:
Huset i Skoven, Skovhuset, Værløse, DK, 2012:
Illusion, Ny-tap, Carlsberg, Copenhagen, DK, 2011
Return of the Losers, Kalmar Konstmuseum, Kalmar, SE, 2011
Ok Corral, Toves Galleri, København, DK, 2011
Yes/No - a subjective definition of synergy, Kastrupgårdsamlingen, Kastrup, DK, 2010
Eyebowling, Kunstraum Warchau, Berlin, DE, 2010
Hadal Aides, Gallery KHM, Malmø, SE, 2010
Dear.... Part 2, Gallery David Risley, Copenhagen, DK, 2010
Things That Matter A Lot, Gallery Christoffer Egelund, Copenhagen, DK, 2010
Our Winter Show, Gallery Steinsland Berliner, Stockholm, SE, 2009
Aktion Auktion (Kirkeasyl), Kødbyen, Copenhagen, DK, 2009
Business As Usual, Hanoi Future Art, Hanoi, VN, 2009
Til Vægs, Charlottenborg Kunsthal, Copenhagen, DK, 2009

SELECTED GRANTS:
Danish Art Council Workgrant: 2009, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021
Knud Højgaards Legat, 2016, 2018
Niels Wessel Bagges Kunstfond, 2014
Else Marie Bukdahls Hæderslegat, 2014
L.F. Grosserer Fonden, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2018
Akademiraadets rejselegat, 2011
Blixfonden, 2011
Solar Fonden af 1978, 2008, 2009

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Interview by George King, www.theravestijngallery.com

'Image Conditions', by Charlotte Præstegaard Schwartz, 2022

’Negative Meadow’, www.artviewer.org, 2019
’Negative Meadow’, www.Tzwetnik.online, 2019
’Mørkets Lyse Sider’ Troels Laursen, Nordjyske Stiftstidende, 2019
’Skulpturkroppe’ af Mette Sandbye, Weekendavisen, 2019
What is Left Behind, www.Artviewer.org, 2017
Synthetic Reveries, (Cinnnamon) www.Artviewer.org, 2017
Synthetic Reveries, (Projektrum D7) www.Artviewer.org, 2017
Feature in Unseen Magazine Amsterdam, NL, 2017
The Shifting Surface in Digital Photography, Phd, Allison Bennett, 2016
Review of Wintermute in NRC Handelsblad, NL 2015
Attachments & Phantasm incl. in the phd “The Postmedial Photography”, by Charlotte Præstegaard Schwartz, 2015
New Danish Art 2013
Artist of the Week, https://kunsten.nu/journal/ugens-kunstner-theis-wendt/, 2013
Best of 67, 2013
Review of On-Tilted, Information, 2013
Interview about On-Tilted, 2013 by kopenhagen.dk
Interview about Swarm, 2013 by kopenhagen.dk
New Danish Art 2011
Review of Gray Trampled Grass. Gray Snow, Information, 2011