Amelie von Wulffen, "Nothing But Dead Ends - And Other Works"
02.10.2015-18.01.2026

Fotos: David Stjernholm

*English below

HFKD præsenterer Nothing but Dead Ends – and Other Works, den første soloudstilling i Danmark med den anerkendte tyske kunstner Amelie von Wulffen (f. 1966 i Breitenbrunn, Tyskland). Von Wulffen har siden 1990’erne markeret sig som en af de mest betydningsfulde stemmer i samtidsmaleriet med et univers, der forener humor, melankoli, selvbiografi og kulturkritik.

Udstillingen er venligst støttet af Holstebro Kommune, Statens Kunstfond, Færch Fonden og 15. Juni Fonden

HFKD is proud to present Nothing but dead ends – and other works, the first solo exhibition in Denmark by acclaimed German artist Amelie von Wulffen (b. 1966, Breitenbrunn, Germany). Since the 1990s, von Wulffen has been recognized as one of the most vital voices in contemporary painting, creating a unique artistic universe that blends humor, melancholy, autobiography, and cultural critique. 

Working across painting, comics, and sculpture, von Wulffen has described her practice as follows: 

“Did the urgent need to paint pictures of houseplants, a glass of water, the view from the window or one’s own face emerge from a general sense of being under threat? You might call it Panic Realism, if you’re fond of catchphrases.” 
— Under the Poodle’s Skin (2023) 

Von Wulffen’s works capture fragile details of contemporary existence, shaped by both political and personal crises, transforming private experiences into shared, culturally charged reflections. 

Highlights of the exhibition include the sculptural installation Attention, les enfants (2015), in which Johannes Vermeer’s mother is depicted at a desk surrounded by her children – uncanny papier-mâché and seashell creatures. The painting Musische Mutter (2019) presents a “talented mother” as a grotesque figure at the center of a folkloristic world, flanked by piglets. In Großer Kellner (2024), a hulking papier-mâché waiter greets us with a painted face of idyllic serenity, depicting a waterside restaurant. 

Other works explore how the domestic intertwines with culture’s darker undercurrents. In Selbst im Silbertablett (2021), a self-portrait reflected tenderly in a silver tray functions as a contemporary vanitas motif. The exhibition also includes urban views from Berlin, framed by gentrification, alongside intimate, poignant scenes: a woman—von Wulffen herself—at a deathbed (Untitled (Tochter des Jägers), 2020), and two sisters lying on a museum floor, inventing their own future (musée jacquemart, 2024). 

Von Wulffen frequently inserts herself into her works, at once vulnerable, ironic, and philosophically reflective. In the artist’s book At the cool table (2011), a loosely penciled self-portrait muses: 

“To be honest I have great doubt about whether a big gap has formed between painting and reality … But I still can’t give it up. Great paintings are simply the most exciting for me. I’ve always related painting to freedom and autarchy and complete eroticism.” 
Such statements reflect von Wulffen’s double perspective: a deep skepticism toward painting’s possibilities, countered by an unwavering fascination with its potential as a space of freedom. 

This duality is further articulated in Under the Poodle’s Skin (2023): 

“I can understand why my paintings sought so often to dismantle apparent reality and superimpose other realities upon it, some arrived at by a process of association, others drawn rather from inner depths. I was trying to insist that ‘reality’ is not something so easy to grasp; it is littered with things that, while being part of it, are nevertheless disavowed or repressed – and in any case, everyone has their own reality.” 

To accompany the exhibition, HFKD and Kölnischer Kunstverein will publish a new volume of von Wulffen’s drawings from 2015–2025. Shown here for the first time, these works capture life around the artist with candor, melancholy, and a quick hand – from parental illness and loss to contemporary political and ecological crises. 

Nothing but dead ends – and other works marks Amelie von Wulffen’s debut solo exhibition in Denmark. The exhibition invites audiences into a practice that moves through detours and dead ends, revealing reality’s many facets, where the grotesque and the comic, nostalgia and despair, helplessness and hope coexist in striking interplay. 

The exhibition is kindly supported by the Danish Arts Foundation, Holstebro Municipality, Færch Fonden and 15. Juni Fonden

Adresse:
HFKD, HUSET FOR KUNST & DESIGN
Nørrebrogade 1
7500 Holstebro

Åbningstider:
Torsdag og fredag kl. 14.00 - 18.00
Lørdag og søndag kl. 12.00 -16.00
Gratis adgang

For mere information kontakt venligst Anna Margrethe Pedersen:
info@hfkd.dk

Address:
HFKD, HUSET FOR KUNST & DESIGN
Nørrebrogade 1
7500 Holstebro
Denmark

Opening hours:
Thursday and Friday 14.00 - 18.00
Saturday and Sunday 12.00 -16.00
Free entry

For more information, please contact Anna Margrethe Pedersen:
info@hfkd.dk