Sidsel Meineche Hansen
WAX
09.11.24 – 12.01.25
I tell you a story, and it's true. Years ago, I needed a trachea esophagus, a body part for our research. And if bodies came in before 24 hours after death, we could use these bodies for this kind of scientific research. I'm sitting at my desk. I get a call from the prosector. There's a body coming in. She died recently and the body is coming in within the 24 hours. So we're going to collect that trachea esophagus. I did it personally, because the prosector had other work. It was a female. I collected it. I saw the body, I saw the face. I undressed her. I did everything that a prosector also does. I dissected her. I removed what I needed. I brought it to the lab. They fixated her body so we can go on working with it. I leave work and I come home to my wife. She tells me about a friend of ours. She died late last night and she was brought into my lab. So, did you see her? And I was thinking, there was only one female body that came in today, and I know it’s her. I saw her face. I saw her body. I undressed her. But, I wasn’t interested in the name, or who the person is. I know what I want to know, that I want to have a good trachea esophagus. See the difference? Only from speaking with my wife, I say, holy shit. I dissected her. I didn't know. And that's how we work. The moment you think, who is this? Then you can't dissect her, that’s the problem.
Prof. Dr. Luc Van Nassauw, Senior Researcher/Anatomist
About the exhibition
One reclining sculpture in wax and aluminium, two stop-motion animations created from AI-generated images with sound, one hook in bronze, one methylene blue drawing of a butterfly, one painting with Joanne Robertson, a medieval-like chandelier in stainless steel with ten hand-blown pendants in crystal glass forming the word MISSIONARY. For her first solo exhibition in Belgium, Sidsel Meineche Hansen brings together new creations made especially for the former anatomical theatre of KIOSK, as well as existing works, in a gentle, titillating, and sharp installation.
Download the exhibition text.
About Sidsel Meineche Hansen
Sidsel Meineche Hansen's work varies in medium and form spanning wood, clay and metals through which crafted objects are made, to CGI animation, VR and video and other reproducible mediums. Meineche Hansen participated in 59th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, The Milk of Dreams (2022) and is a bursary recipient of the 2020 Turner Prize. The most recent solo exhibitions include: Ordet, Milan (2024); gta exhibition, Zurich, Édouard Montassut, Paris & Company Gallery, New York (2023); Bergen Kunsthall, Bergen (2021); Christian Andersen, Copenhagen (2021); Rodeo, London / Piraeus (2020); Center for Contemporary Arts, Prague (2019); Chisenhale Gallery, London (2019); SMK – The National Gallery of Denmark, Copenhagen (2019); KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin (2018); Kunsthal Aarhus (2018).
Practical information
- Opening on Saturday the 9th of November 2024, between 4 and 7 p.m.
- Open daily between 12.00 and 6.00 p.m.
- Open until 12.01.2025 (closed between 23.12.2024 and 06.01.2025)
- Free entrance
- Louis Pasteurlaan 2, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
Parallel program
- 07.11.2024, 8.30 p.m.: screening of Maintenancer (2018) and Baby Jesus (2023) by Sidsel Meineche Hansen and Therese Henningsen at KASKCinema, followed by Sinziana Ravini, en een Q&A met de kunstenaars
- 09.11.2024, 2.00 p.m.: WAX, a conversation between Laurent de Sutter and Josefine Wikström over the work of Sidsel Meineche Hansen, at the Cirque auditorium
Special thanks go to
10 Tons, Arc Justice, Berengo Studio, Fusioni d'Arte 3V, James B. Stringer, Luc Van Nassauw, Pascale Pollier and BIOMAB (Biological and Medical Art in Belgium), Sam Fuller, Thor Tao Hansen
Generously supported by
