Introduction

Hereby, Stalke was introduced as a gallery project with an international perspective.

From the outset, the gallery collaborated with a permanent core of six artists who, over the preceding years, had played a significant role in the progressive segment of Danish (and international) art. These six artists were: Thomas Bang, Torben Ebbesen, Henrik Have, Thorbjørn Lausten, Mogens Møller, and Margrete Sørensen. Additionally, Osmund Hansen, who had made a significant comeback in Danish art two years earlier, was also part of the gallery’s featured artists. Over the following 18 months, these artists were presented at the gallery in both solo exhibitions and group shows.

In addition to the aforementioned artists, exhibitions by internationally renowned artists were also featured in collaboration with various foreign galleries. Occasionally, exhibitions by Scandinavian artists complemented the gallery’s core team.

Stalke was a new creation within the Danish gallery scene, having established international collaborations from the outset with artists, galleries, and journals in the USA, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Belgium, and Scandinavia. This collaboration aimed to exhibit the gallery’s Danish artists abroad and to present international artists in Copenhagen.

The gallery’s exhibitions were supplemented by two publication series: NOTE, which featured art-theoretical contributions by artists or art mediators, and NEWSLETTER, which included current information about the gallery’s artists.

The Stalke Galleri project encompassed:

• Stalke Galleri, Admiral Gade 22

• Stalke Project, Nørregade 7C

The gallery opened on Saturday, October 3, with exhibitions by:
Michael Goldberg at Stalke Galleri
Thorbjørn Lausten at Stalke Project

Sam Jedig and Joachim Rothenborg

The Beginnings of Stalke – Ambition and Structure

At its founding in 1987, Stalke Galleri and Stalke Project were presented as a distinctive and ambitious new initiative within the Danish gallery scene. According to a review in Berlingske Tidende, Stalke was not described as a single gallery, but rather as a dual structure consisting of a traditional gallery space in Admiralgade and a more experimental project space in Nørregade. This division was highlighted as a deliberate organizational and artistic strategy.

The reviewer emphasized that Stalke operated internationally and professionally from the outset, both in its presentation of artists and in its administrative approach. The project brought together a permanent group of artists described as strongly project-oriented and materially conscious, representing a constructive and minimalist approach to contemporary art—standing in contrast to the more expressive tendencies prevalent at the time.

Stalke’s leadership was portrayed as clearly organized, with a distinct division of responsibilities in which international outlook, networking, and communication played a central role. Collaborations with foreign institutions and a strong emphasis on documentation, text, and mediation were seen as essential elements in the project’s ambition to situate Danish artists within an international context.

The article also noted that interest in minimalism and constructive art was already well established abroad, particularly in major art centers, suggesting that Stalke had entered the scene at an opportune moment. Overall, the initiative was assessed as both bold and carefully conceived, with the potential to achieve lasting significance if its ambitions could be sustained over time.

Source:
Review by Peter Michael Hornung, Berlingske Tidende, Culture Section, Monday, 26 October 1987.

Stalke Galleri, 1987, Admiralgade 22, Copenhagen 

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