Contemporary Craft Hanne Friis
Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg
November 27, 2024 – April 27, 2025

In its exhibition series “Contemporary Craft”, the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg (MK&G) is now presenting the first-ever solo exhibition by the Norwegian textile artist Hanne Friis (b. 1972) in Germany. The show centres on a series of sculptural objects. With her works in textile, Hanne Friis is redefining the concept of sculpture. Not only the materials she uses but also her special working method make for a unique body of work.

The artist shapes and folds fabric by hand, finishing the pieces with hand-stitching in nylon thread. The extraordinarily organic works that result, made of latex, rubber, plastic, nylon, silk, velvet and Gore-Tex, seem to grow right out of the wall and floor like living structures, often changing their shape over time.
The choice of colours also plays an important role, for example, the striking cyan blue of the work “The Sky Is the Limit” (2022). At a height of 2.7 metres, the piece hangs from the ceiling in elegant drapes, evoking a kind of mysterious natural phenomenon.

BIOGRAPHY
Hanne Friis (b. 1972 in Oslo, Norway) studied sculpture and painting at the Trondheim Academy of Fine Art in Norway between 1992 and 1996. She has made a name for herself internationally with her sculptures in unusual materials such as latex, rubber, plastic, nylon, silk and velvet. Her works are represented in public and private collections including the National Museum in Oslo, the Haugar Art Museum in Tønsberg, the National Museum of Decorative Arts and Design in Trondheim, the West Norway Museum of Decorative Art in Bergen and the Norwegian Parliament in Oslo.

In recent years, Friis has participated in several solo and group exhibitions, including “Torrent” at Maria Wettergren Gallery, Paris (2023), “Circulation”, at Vigeland Museum, Oslo, “Nice to (finally) meet you” at Kunsthalle Seinäjoki in Finland (2020) and “Topography” at Kristiansand Kunsthall in Kristiansand, Norway (2019). In 2024, Kode Art Hall, Bergen, Norway will present a solo exhibition by Hanne Friis.

CONTEMPORARY CRAFT
The exhibition series “Contemporary Craft”, which is now accompanying the MK&G messe for the third year, showcases the work of major international artists and artisans with the aim of raising the profile of craft in contemporary discourse while transcending the traditional boundaries between art, craft and design.

more. www.mkg-hamburg.de

Image courtesy of Hanne Friis & Galerie Maria Wettergren Photo: Øystein Thorvaldsen

Image courtesy of Hanne Friis & Galerie Maria Wettergren Photo: Marc Domage