The new dawn of feminist art is adorned with old stars – and blood red poppies.

Copenhagen based solo exhibition by Ursula Reuter Christiansen proves the influence of leading female artists of the 70’s to be as prominent as ever, showing the essence of a lifework in the process of constant development.

Sabsay is thrilled to announce the opening of ‘New Works’, a solo exhibition by Ursula Reuter Christiansen, comprising several new oil paintings, unfolding the perpetual story of death, renewal, and life in a new context in relation to the artist’s oeuvre.

Reuter Christiansen’s exhibition at Sabsay relates to her other current major solo exhibition at the National Gallery of Denmark, which is centred on her 1970’s paintings and the film The Executioner (1971). A significant work in early Danish feminist art, the film approaches the symbolism of the poppy, which has been a consistent motif in the artist’s body of work ever since.

Many elements from her current exhibition at the National Gallery of Denmark figure in Reuter Christiansen’s new works. In the paintings on show, the poppies find new modes of expression: “The poppies became a symbol of death, blood, mortality. And when I look at the new poppies, they are a kind of death machine. They’re almost circular. The poppy becomes relevant again in my story, but in a different way,” the artist states.

As the current and much-heated women’s rights debate continues to prove itself relevant, Reuter Christiansen’s new works seem as influential as ever. Rather than tending towards revisionism, the exhibition explores the qualities that Reuter Christiansen’s work continues to show today regardless of historical times: “We are not so much reviving a leading female artist of the 70’s when exhibiting Reuter Christiansen. Her work was hugely influential at the time too and these new paintings show an artistic development over time,” says Masha Faurschou, founder of Sabsay.

“It has been an exciting journey to follow Ursula Reuter Christiansen creating her new paintings. We look forward to share the overwhelming results of her efforts to get back to her studio to paint. Ursula is a painter who’s time is now,” Masha Faurschou concludes.

Born in Trier, Germany, in 1943, Ursula Reuter Christiansen has lived and worked on the Danish island, Møn, since 1969. The same year she graduated from Akademie der Künste in Düsseldorf where she studied under professor Joseph Beuys. Reuter Christiansen worked as a professor at the University of Fine Arts in Hamburg (HfBK) from 1992-96 and a professor of painting at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen from 1997-2006. She and her husband, Henning Christiansen represented Denmark at the Venice Biennale in 2001. Reuter Christiansen has exhibited at Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen (2016), MOCA, Los Angelses (2007-8), Kunsthal Brandts Klædefabrik, Odense (2000) among others. She was awarded the Eckersberg Medal in 2011.

Sabsay opened in May 2016 and is located in Central Copenhagen. According to Sabsay, the purpose of the exhibition space is to enrich the Danish art scene with new names and practices as well as to encourage joint projects between international and local artists and curators.