Organic shapes meet up with bright, vibrant colours and industrially manufactured functional textiles: The Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg (MK&G) is presenting the first solo exhibition in Germany devoted to the Norwegian textile artist Hanne Friis (b. 1972). The third show in the Contemporary Craft series provides an overview of the artist’s work featuring 19 sculptural pieces that include expansive objects made of latex, silk, velvet, wool and Gore-Tex as well as new textile works made especially for the exhibition.

With what she calls Soft sculptures, Hanne Friis is redefining the medium. Her objects seem to grow out of the wall and floor like living, organic structures, often changing shape over time. In addition, Friis’s practice is defined by special working methods and high-quality craftsmanship. The artist folds and compresses the fabric by hand, finishing the pieces with nylon thread stitching.

She devotes particular attention to colours and materials. The organic looking form of the hand-sewn, cyan-blue fabric in “Impulse (cyan)” (2021–22), for example, is reminiscent of water or a kind of enigmatic natural phenomenon. Friis chose a synthetic vinyl for this work whose artificial materiality only becomes apparent on closer inspection. The neon yellow functional fabric chosen for The mass (yellow) (2011) has a signal effect and evokes associations with high-visibility clothing. The artist deliberately plays here with the work’s space-occupying presence: “I wanted to attract attention with the colour. It is very bright and intense and gives you energy”.

The connection to nature and engagement with organic, seemingly living forms is particularly evident in the work Trophy (2015–16). The effect here likewise comes from the interplay of material and colour – and not so much through a flowing form. The velvet is made of natural silk and has been hand-dyed using lichens and mushrooms, resulting in various interblended shades of light brown.

Hanne Friis (b. 1972 in Oslo, Norway) studied sculpture and painting at the Trondheim Academy of Fine Art in Norway from 1992 to 1996. Her objects are represented in public and private collections including the National Museum in Oslo, the Haugar Art Museum in Tønsberg, the National Museum of Decorative Arts and Design in Trondheim, the Kode Art Museum in Bergen and the Norwegian Parliament in Oslo. Friis’s works have been shown in several exhibitions, including Torrent at the Maria Wettergren Gallery, Paris, France (2023), Circulation at the Vigeland Museum, Oslo, Norway, Nice to (finally) meet you at the Kunsthall in Seinäjoki, Finland (2020), and Topography at the Kunsthall in Kristiansand, Norway (2019). In 2024, the Kode Art Museum in Bergen, Norway, devoted a solo exhibition to the artist.

The exhibition series Contemporary craft, which is now accompanying the MK&G messe for the third year, showcases the work of major international artists and artisans with the aim of raising the profile and visibility of craft in contemporary discourse while transcending the traditional boundaries between art, craft and design.