An Art Exhibition In Your Home? Meet the Danish Women Behind the Concept!

In celebration of International Women’s Day, I thought I’d shine a light on two inspiring women from the Scandinavian art and design scene who I’ve been following for a while! Meet Mette Helena Rasmussen, a graduate from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, and Anne Aarsland, an art history and Visual artist graduate from the University of Copenhagen. The pair met through a mutual client in 2017 and founded KUNSTSALONEN through which they curate public exhibitions in private homes across Denmark. To date, they’ve held five successful exhibitions (FREDERIKSBERG SALONEN, AMAGER SALONEN, AARHUS SALONEN, ØSTERBRO SALONEN and KØBENHAVN K SALONEN (featured above) showcasing the work of over 35 artists at a time. I caught up with the pair to find out more about how the ‘nomadic platform’ works and their best tips for creating an incredible gallery wall!

A gallery wall in KØBENHAVN K SALONEN in the home of artist Lis McDonald (complete list of artists featured here).

How did you meet?

We had been following each other on instagram for a while and met on a styling project for Artemide Lighting. The press event was held in Anne’s apartment.

A mother and daughter enjoy the exhibition in a private home in central Copenhagen last weekend.

When did you decide to collaborate?

The press event turned out to be a cool experience and Anne enjoyed the guests, the talks and how her home was part of something different for a short period of time. We had a glass of wine (or two!) and talked about how we could do something together. We didn’t really know what exactly, but came up with ideas for something like networking, exhibitions, social events, parties etc.

Artists featured above all tagged here.

How did you come up with the idea?

We wanted to contribute to the Danish art scene and somehow arrived at the idea of holding a curated art exhibition in Anne’s private home.

Work by Carsten Crone Caroc, Sarah Schönbeck, Mie Olise Kjærgaard, Martha Kramer, and Line Busch at last week’s exhibition captured by Tia Borgsmidt.

What inspired the name?

Our first exhibition was called FREDERIKSBERG SALONEN inspired by the salons in Paris and the tendency to use homes for literature gatherings, music and poetry events. We were also inspired by the fact that people are starting to rent personal spaces through Airbnb and Gomore.dk.

Eye-catching art by Kunstsalonen co-founder Anne Aarsland (left) in the KÖBENHAVN K SALONEN exhibition.

How did you organise your first event?

We invited several contemporary artists and all of them accepted. We installed the art in Anne’s home (seen in the last two pictures in this post) and invited everyone we knew. It was a huge success and gave us confidence to develop this active, nomadic platform for showing art and arrange exhibitions in other private homes across Denmark.

Making final touches to the AARHUS SALONEN exhibition

How does it work?

We curate and invite selected artists to showcase their work in a private home for a weekend. The generous hosts (who are passionate about contemporary art) invite us to use their homes for a week. People visit the exhibition and buy the artwork. It’s a true pleasure to work on this project!

A drool-worthy gallery wall in the home of Mette Helena Rasmussen.

How do you select the artists?
We mostly show Danish artists, but we have featured work by Swedish artist Johan Furåker, Norwegian artists Jeanette Sættre and Arne-Marius Skogås as well as Iranian artist Frank Shoi and Brit Nicholas Imms.

And finally, what are your best tips for creating a perfect gallery wall?
Our best tip is to collect great art! Organise your artwork in tones and colours that work well together. Combine large scale works with minor works and bring in three dimensional pieces to give the wall a vivid expression.

What a truly inspiring idea! Thank you for sharing this with us Mette and Anne!

If you’re heading to Denmark, you might like to time your visit with their forthcoming exhibitions:

FUGLEBAKKE SALONEN, Frederiksberg, Copenhagen 10 – 12 May
MORS SALONEN, Jutland in August

Keep an eye out for more information here (and follow along on instagram here).

In case you’re feeling inspired to create your own gallery wall this weekend – this guide might come in handy! Or perhaps, if you live in Denmark, your home might just be the location for their next exhibition! Would you be keen? I have a feeling I’d want to keep all the artwork!

Wishing you a wonderful weekend friends!

Niki

PS Stuck on a room and could use a little help? We’re offering 20% off a new room design through My Scandinavian Home Studio online interior design service with the code MYNEWROOM until 7th May, 2019. We’d love to help you!

Photographs 1 to 6 by Tia Borgsmidt