Heitland Foundation

Mille Kalsmose

 

Mille Kalsmose (* 1972)

in Horsens, Denmark.

Lives and works in New York, United States, and Copenhagen, Denmark.

 

With found pieces of rock, marble tiles, newspaper rolls, leather, silk, moss, algae, blood, iron dust,

meteorite stones, lithium, water, and cosmic sound wave frequencies, Mille Kalsmose (b. 1972,

Horsens, Denmark) creates spaces, images and material installations, where the human and the

non-human are in dialogue. The recycled, organic materials are therefore not just passive objects, but carriers of stories—they refer to systems of knowledge beyond Western thinking and to connections between planets, minerals, and the extended being of humans, which is more than just matter.

 

Kalsmose works conceptually across media, where matter, sound, and human cognition are

intertwined in cyclical installations that revolve around what it means to be human; Her work

examines the relationship between humans, matter, and consciousness in a time when AI and new media challenge our understanding of human nature. Kalsmose is concerned with renegotiating our way of being in the world—not as individuals living on the earth, but as part of it and the universe, inspired by indigenous peoples' Cosmo visions.

 

Kalsmose holds a MA from Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and has studied at the Bio Art Lab at SVA, School of Visual Arts, in New York. Her work has been exhibited at ARoS, Aarhus Art

Museum; at MAVI, Museum of Visual Arts, Satiago, Chile, United Nations Headquarters, New

York, USA; CCA, Center of Contemporary Art, Andratx, Spain; La Virreina, Centre de Imagen,

Barcelona, Cataluña; ITAMI Museum, Hygo, Japan; and Fundacion Valentin de Madarigada,

Andalusia, Spain, Horsens Art Museum; Gether Contemporary; Den Frie Exhibition Center;

Kastrupgaard Collection, and others. Her work is collected in several private and public

institutions.

 

Education

2009 Master in Contemporary Art and Aesthetics, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Spain

2015 School of Visual Art’s (SVA’s) Bio Art Lab in New York, United States

 

Selected solo exhibitions

2023

Magic Materialism, Martin Asbæk Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark

2022

Politikens Forhal, JP/Politiken Mediahouse, Copenhagen, Denmark

2019

United Nations, Great Assembly Hall, New York Headquarters, United States

2018

The Shape of Us, Horsens Kunstmuseum, Horsens, Denmark

2017

Re-Sounding Organs, Center of Contemporary Art, Andratx, Spain

Cosmic Relations, MANA Contemporary, Jersey City, United States

2014

Searching for a Mother (with Alberto Garcia-Alix), Horsens Kunstmuseum, Denmark

2013

Searching for a Mother (with Alberto Garcia-Alix), La Virreina, Centre de Imagen, Barcelona, Spain

2012

Siteseeing, Traneudstillingen, Copenhagen, Denmark

2009

Outrospective, WAS-Wonderland Art Space, Copenhagen, Denmark

 

Selected group exhibitions

2025

Arte Povera – A New Chapter, EMMA Espoo Museum of Modern Art, Espoo, Finland

Collected Memory, THK Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa

2024

Cosmic Bond, Mille Kalsmose / Yukari Hotta, L’Space, New York City, United States

Summation: Autonomous, and yet Together, Nordic embassies in Berlin, Germany

Summer in the City, Martin Asbæk Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark

2023

Summer in the City, Martin Asbæk Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark

2022

The Times of the Chimera, Cameroon Pavilion, Palazzo Ca’ Bernardo, Venice Biennale, Italy

Ten Year Later. Highlights from the Mana Collection, Mana Contemporary, United States

New Acquisitions, Horsens Kunstmuseum, Horsens, Denmark

2021

Work It Out!, KUNSTEN, Aalborg, Denmark

All Together Now, KUNSTEN, Aalborg, Denmark

2020

Sculpture Bienale, Interdimensionale, Copenhagen, Denmark

Renderings/Synliggørelser, Den Frie Udstillingsbygning, Copenhagen, Denmark

Inherited Sentiment, Mana Contemporary, New Jersey, United States

2019

14th Media Arts Biennial of Chile, Museum of Contemporary Art, Santiago, Chile

Cosmic Existence, Den Frie Udstillingsbygning, Copenhagen, Denmark

Crazy Matter, group show featuring contemporary sculpture with C. Overvad Hansen, M. Kølbæk

Iversen & A. Myntekær, Gether Contemporary, Copenhagen, Denmark

2018

Cool, Calm and Collected, Aros, Aarhus Kunstmuseum, Aarhus, Denmark

2017

Yell, Nicolaj Bergmann, Tokyo, Japan

2016

Trust me if you can’t, Sabsay, Copenhagen, Denmark

Repeating Patterns, Fundacion MNAC Montenmedio, Spain

Fundacion Valentin de Madarigada, Andalusia, Spain

2012

How am I, Kastrupgaardsamlingen, Copenhagen, Denmark

2008

Your Documents Please, ITAMI, (Museum of Arts and Crafts) Hygo, Japan

 

Site-specific commissions and special projects

2022

Kirsebærteltet, Folekvarteret, Valby, Denmark, Supported by Valby Lokaludvalg

2012

The Core, Gentofte Hospital, Gentofte, Denmark

Towards a whole Picture, IKL, Copenhagen Business School. Frederiksberg, Denmark

2009

Planes of Thought, LPF, Copenhagen Business School, Frederiksberg, Denmark

 

Residencies

2022

Casa Wabi, Oaxaca, Mexico

2019

ALMA, Atacama Large Array, space observatory, Chile

NOVUS, United Nations Headquarter, New York, United States

2018

Statens Værksteder for Kunst, Copenhagen, Denmark

2017

CCA Andratx, Mallorca, Spain

MANA Residencies, New Jersey, United States

2016

Residency Unlimited, New York City, United States

 

Publications

The Shape of Us – New Materialism with contributions by i.e.: Barbara Pollack, Maria Kappel Blegvad, Daniel Hjort,

Natalia Gutman, Richard Vine and Emilia Van Hauen

Re-Sounding Organ, Natalie Gutmann, CCA Andratx, Spain

Mnemoric Archive, Barbara Pollack, Beijing

Tribe, Richard Vine, Beijing

Searching for a Mother, Claus Hagedorn-Olsen, Horsens Kunstmuseum

Ressurection, Julie Horne Møller, Kuben, Horsens Kunstmuseum

Searching for a Mother, Palau La Virreina Centre de Imagen, Barcelona

The Core, Angelika Dahl-Serritzlev, Gentofte Hospital

Site-Seeing, Aukje Lepoutre Ravn, Traneudstillingen

How Am I – Danish and Indian contemporary Art, catalogue, Trine Ross, Else Marie Bukdahl & Anirudh Chari,

Kastrupgårdsamlingen

 

Collections

The Danish Arts Foundation, Denmark

MANA Contemporary, New York, USA

Kunsten Museum of Modern Art, Denmark

Horsens Art Museum, Denmark

MAVI Museum of Contemporary Art, Chile

EMMA Espoo Museum of Modern Art, Finland