NICOLAI HOWALT
Nicolai Howalt is a Danish artist whose photographic work spans documentary, conceptual, and installation modes. He is interested in duality, connections and relationships, and while death is an aspect of his work, he sees it as a part of an investigation of life and its fragility. He draws inspiration from a line by T.S. Eliot, “The end is where we start from.” Howalt’s work is marked by the absence of the decisive moment, focusing instead on the heartless quietness of the anticipation and/or aftermath of a situation, devoid of any narrative cues. He has a longstanding collaboration with artist Trine Søndergaard, with whom he explores concepts of cultural heritage, transitions, evolution, spaces of limbo and the continuum of life and time.
The artist was born in 1970 in Copenhagen and graduated from Denmark’s prestigious Photographic Art School Fatamorgana in 1992. He has received a series of grants from the Hasselblad Foundation, The Danish Ministry of Culture, The Danish Arts Foundation and The Danish Arts Council. Howalt has had three exhibitions at the Bruce Silverstein Gallery in Chelsea since 2007.
He has had solo shows at Esbjerg Kunstmuseum; Martin Asbæk Gallery, Copenhagen and Center for Fotografi, Stockholm among others. He has also exhibited at Statens Museum for Kunst; ARoS, Denmark; Skagens Museum, Denmark; Vensyssel Art Museum, Denmark; and other venues in Korea, China, USA, Germany, Lithuania, Poland, France, Finland, England, Hungary and Turkey.
Howalt is represented in numerous public collections, including The Israel Museum, Jerusalem; MUSAC, Spain; Maison Européenne de Photographie, France; Museum of Fine Arts Houston, USA; La Casa Encendida, Spain; Fondation Neuflize Vie, France; Art Foundation Majorca, Spain; Hiscox Art Project, USA. In Denmark his work is held at the National Museum of Photography, The Danish Arts Foundation, Skagen Museum, Nykredit and Museet for Fotokunst, Brandts.
In 2001 Howalt published the book 3x1 with Gyldendal Publishers. His work Boxer was published in 2003 by ArtPeople. The artist lives and works in Denmark.
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