Vienna-Copenhagen. Den Frie Udstilling 2026

For the exhibition Vienna–Copenhagen. Den Frie Udstilling 2026, 45 members of the artists’ association Den Frie Udstilling invite their colleagues from the sister institution, Wiener Secession, to participate as guest exhibitors. Like Den Frie, the Vienna Secession was founded in the 1890s, and the two institutions remain among the few exhibition venues in Europe still owned and run by artistsAs is the case of Den Frie Udstilling, Wiener Secession also counts some of the country’s most prominent artists among its members. The exhibition presents more than 45 artists from Den Frie Udstilling in dialogue with more than 100 Austrian artist colleagues from Wiener Secession. The exhibition is organised by Kristoffer Akselbo and Henrik Plenge Jakobsen from Den Frie Udstilling, and Sofie Thorsen, Michael Part and Jun Yang from Wiener Secession, assisted by Clemens Battisti.

Den Frie Udstilling is Denmark’s oldest artists’ association, founded in 1891 by, among others, J.F. Willumsen, Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen, Vilhelm Hammershøi, and Harald and Agnes Slott-Møller. The aim was to create an alternative to the censored exhibitions at Charlottenborg, which, in light of the new era, were perceived as academic and conservative. The artists of Den Frie instead turned towards the international art scene and drew inspiration from new movements experimenting with motifs, aesthetics and form. In 1893, the association built Den Frie Udstillingsbygning, designed by J.F. Willumsen, which in 1898 was moved to its current location at Oslo Plads. The building is one of the very first in Denmark designed and dedicated specifically to art exhibitions. Its unique, temple-like architecture reflected radical artistic orientations of the time. Above the entrance floats a gilded winged Pegasus with a youth on its back; the motif symbolises inspiration and artistic freedom.

Since the beginning, the artists of Den Frie Udstilling have exhibited together annually in Den Frie Udstillingsbygning. The association still includes some of the country’s most significant artists, all working in an exploratory and experimental ways, contributing to the ongoing development of Danish art. Den Frie Udstillingsbygning also hosts other exhibitions, including other Danish artists’ associations, commissioned projects and curated exhibitions featuring both Danish and international contemporary art. Across the programme, exhibitions are developed and realised in close collaboration with the artists.

In recent years, there has been a renewed interest in the artists’ association model. The idea of an artist-run exhibition community on the artists’ own terms – independent of institutional agendas and the market forces of the gallery world – resonates with a renewed interest in artist-curated exhibitions, self-organised exhibition spaces and other collective formats. Artists’ associations have, however, often been perceived as a local Danish phenomenon. With this exhibition, Den Frie Udstilling aims to demonstrate that both historical and contemporary international parallels exist.

The Association of Visual Artists Wiener Secession today is housed in another of the world’s oldest independent exhibition institutions, likewise, dedicated specifically to contemporary art. Its programme of ten to fifteen exhibitions per year is developed by the association’s board members through a democratic process and solely on the basis of artistic criteria. The primary aim is to present relevant and current tendencies within international and Austrian art.

Wiener Secession was founded a few years after Den Frie Udstilling, in 1897, by a group of artists around Gustav Klimt, who had broken away from the conservative Künstlerhaus. Klimt became the association’s first president; other founding members included painters Kolo Moser and Carl Moll, as well as architects Josef Hoffmann and Joseph Maria Olbrich. In 1898, Olbrich designed the Secession Building as a built manifesto – a structure symbolizing the new association’s commitment to pioneering modernist ideas. The Secession Building was a significant inspiration for Willumsen’s building for Den Frie Udstilling.

The exhibition Vienna–Copenhagen presents works and editions by 170 artists in an energetic display that highlights the potential of collective formats and collegial exchange.

Secession artists:

Abdul Sharif Baruwa, Aglaia Konrad, Almut Rink, Andreas Fogarasi, Anja Manfredi, Anna Meyer, Axel Stockburger, Barbara Holub, Barbara Kapusta, Bernhard Fruer, Bruno Mokross, Carola Dertnig, Christian Egger, Christian Hutzinger, Christian Kosmas Mayer, Christian Schwarzwald, Christina Zurfluh, Christoph Weber, Claudia Märzendorfer, Elisabeth Grübl, Eva Schlegel, Fabian Seiz, Florian Pumhösl, Georg Petermichl & Stefan Reiterer with Romana Zöchling, Georgia Creimer, Gerda Lampalzer, Gerwald Rockenschaub, Gilbert Bretterbauer, Günther Selichar, Hans Schabus, Heidrun Holzfeind, Heliane Wiesauer-Reiterer, Irina Lotarevich, Johanna Tinzl & Katrin Hornek, Jojo Gronostay, Josef Trattner, Judith Fegerl, Julie Hayward, Julius Pristauz, Jun Yang, Karl-Heinz Klopf, Katrina Daschner, Klaus Mosettig, Klub Zwei (Simone Bader & Jo Schmeiser) with MAIZ, Lazar Lyutakov & Rada Boukova, Leopold Kessler, Maja Vukoje, Manfred Grübl, ManfreDu Schu, Manuel Gorkiewicz, Maria Bussmann, Maria Theresia Litschauer, Marina Faust, Markus Krottendorfer, Maruša Sagadin, Meina Schellander, Michael Gumhold, Michael Huey, Michael Kienzer, Michael Part, Min Yoon, Miriam Bajtala, Nick Oberthaler, Nicolas Jasmin, Nicole Six & Paul Petritsch, Nika Kupyrova, Nikolaus Gansterer, Nita Tandon, Norbert Pfaffenbichler, Oliver Ressler, Oscar Cueto, Patrick Baumüller, Peter Sandbichler, Peter Zolly, Ralo Mayer, Richard Hoeck, Rini Tandon, Roland Kollnitz, Ryts Monet, Sabina Hörtner, Siegrun Appelt, Siggi Hofer, Sigrid Kurz, Simone Bader, Sofie Thorsen, Sonia Leimer, Sonja Gangl, Stephanie Misa, Susanne Jirkuff, Suse Krawagna, Svenja Deininger, Thomas Baumann, Thomas Feuerstein, Thomas Reinhold, Tom Eller, Ulrike Müller, Ute Müller&Christoph Meier&Robert Schwarz&Lukas Stopczynski, Werner Feiersinger, Werner Kaligofsky, Werner Reiterer, WIENER TIMES – Susanne Schneider & Johannes Schweiger, Wolfgang Capellari, Yein Lee

For more information please visit Den Frie.