SPECTA (DK)

SPECTA represents a diverse group of Scandinavian and international artists. Presenting a wide range of media, the gallery profile emphasizes great variety with a focus on the artist’s original approach to material / media and precisely defined practices. The gallery's artists are all represented in public and private collections. Founded by Else Johannesen in 1980 SPECTA is one of the longest standing galleries in Denmark, and it was passed down to Gitte Johannesen at the beginning of 2019.

Peder Skrams Gade 13
1054 Copenhagen K
Denmark
(+45) 33 13 01 23

gitte@specta.dk
specta.dk

Contact gallery

Curated for
CHART

For CHART 2025, SPECTA will focus the presentation on new and recent works by Icelandic artist Thordis Adalsteinsdottir. To create a dynamic view and interpretation of these works, the presentation will also include works by other gallery artists, pointing to some of the recurring themes of the works by Thordis Adalsteinsdottir. These are the cats and other animals which are on top of the situation, the smartphone, the lack of connectedness to nature, the struggles of contemporary life, surrealism, as well as an attention to infinite patterns as a visual concept. Several paintings and works on paper by Adalsteinsdottir will be in focus, juxtaposed with singular works by Camilla Thorup, Frances Goodman, Otavio Schipper, Signe Jais, Peter Holst Henckel and Svend-Allan Sørensen. The presentation will include a variety of media such as paintings, works on paper, ceramics, objects, fine art print and collage.

Camilla Thorup, Nester, Glazed ceramics, 2025. Courtesy of the artist and SPECTA

Svend-Allan Sørensen, En krage og et træ i et landskab, 2025. Courtesy of the artist and SPECTA

Frances Goodman, Little One, 2022. Courtesy of the artist and SPECTA

Otavio Schipper, Study for Litany for Bubbles, 2024. Courtesy of the artist and SPECTA

Signe jais, Moving straight lines and the space in between, Sewing thread on logarithmic paper and cardboard, 2024. Courtesy of the artist and SPECTA

Peter Holst Henckel, Pipe Dream, 2025. Courtesy of the artist and SPECTA

Thordis Adalsteinsdottir, Two Good Kitties and a Woman Birthing a Lamb, Acrylic and flashe on canvas, 2024. Courtesy of the artist and SPECTA

Modou Dieng Yacine, Afrikas Stjerne, 2025, mixed media on paper, 155 x 101 cm. Courtesy of the artist and SPECTA

Thordis Adalsteinsdottir (IS)

In paintings and works on paper, Thordis Adalsteinsdottir invites us into a surreal universe populated by both humans and animals, co-existing in various settings from large scale landscapes to small, confined spaces. However surreal the imagery of Thordis Adalsteinsdottir’s paintings seem, they touch on key topics of our time. The climate crisis and our doubtful relation to nature and animals are present in many of her works, and our focus on self-realization and civilization is nodded at through markers such as fine porcelain cups, a British gentleman’s night gown, iPhones and a running man. The themes are intertwined with different sides to the same story.

Thordis Adalsteinsdottir, (b. 1975 IS) lives and works in Normandy, France. Adalsteinsdottir obtained her BFA at the Icelandic Academy of Arts in 1999 and her MFA at The School of Visual Arts in New York in 2003. Thordis Adalsteinsdottir has exhibited extensively throughout the world and institutional exhibitions include at the Reykjavík Art Museum, at The National Gallery of Iceland, Nordatlantens Brygge, Cph, at various institutions in the Nordics, the Knoxville Museum of Art in Tennessee a.o.