Karen Dulong is a Danish artist, curator, and the founder of GALERIA 18, a welcoming gallery showcasing upcoming artists on Værnedamsvej 18, Copenhagen. Her work explores transformation, emotion, and the beauty found in imperfection. Through painting and material reuse, she turns fragments of everyday life into reflections on care, resilience, and becoming. She holds a Master’s degree from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and Copenhagen Business School.

The solo exhibition Perception Layers by
Nico A. Hagemann, curated by Karen
Dulong, explores the challenges of
identity and self-perception in today’s
world, where constant comparison
(amplified by social media) makes it
harder than ever to truly understand
ourselves.

Through his layered portraits, Nico
examines how we see ourselves versus
how others perceive us, questioning
whether these impressions stem from our
own beliefs or are shaped by external
influences. His depiction of multiple eyes
symbolizes the overwhelming
perspectives we encounter daily,
especially in a world dominated by
endless scrolling and carefully curated
online personas.

Nico’s croquis drawings celebrate
femininity through fluid and inviting lines,
evoking both strength and mystery. The
drawings embody a foreign mystical secret
of ethereal nature which feels both familiar
and original, lurking you into new worlds
and the well known seducing feminine
force. These works, inspired by his graffiti
roots, combine raw energy with a deep
exploration of emotions and identity.

Drawing on his own experiences of inner
turmoil, Nico transforms chaos into art,
encouraging viewers to reflect on how
societal and digital pressures affect their
sense of self. Join us in uncovering the
layers of self-perception and the search for
authenticity in a world shaped by filters
and unrealistic standards.

“TENDER FRAGMENTS: BECOMING WHOLE”

Joana Bernd invites us to pause and
feel the world through a universal,
visual language. In Tender Fragments,
she explores the fluid nature of
identity and the need to keep our
hearts tender in the face of injustice.
Her works - like pearls on a string -
are fragments of something larger,
reminding us that only by staying
open can we move toward
understanding and change.

Joana Bernd (b. 1994) is a German
artist currently living in Spain, where
she often uses nature as her studio.
Her work explores themes of
vulnerability, identity, and tenderness
through poetic, fragmentary pieces.

In her practice, she seeks a plain,
visual language that connects directly
with the viewer—embracing the raw,
the unfinished, and the emotional.
Her approach is deeply intuitive,
shaped by an intersectional feminist
perspective and a belief in the power
of softness as both resistance and
care.

Galeria 18 is proud to present a solo exhibition by ceramic artist Maja Sisse Sørensen, opening August 5th.

Born and raised on the island of Bornholm, Maja draws inspiration from the sea and the natural world beneath the surface. Her hand-built sculptures and ceramic reliefs reflect themes of extinction, transformation, and reverence for fragile ecosystems in the Anthropocene era.

Her works are bold in scale yet quiet in presence—appearing as if dredged from the ocean floor, shaped by time, salt, and imagination. They stand as poetic reminders of what we are losing, and what might still be preserved.

As part of our two-week pop-up T.anker Teaser at Galeria 18, Tobias Anker Simonsen shares more than just paintings – he shares pieces of himself.

T.anker is a young artist and poet from Svendborg, known for his raw, emotional works that blend abstract painting with personal poetry. Living with ADHD, he’s found calm through creativity – and uses both words and colors to express what can’t always be said out loud.

Tom Hudson Davies: "With an architectural background my practice is an investigation into the world around me. I create site- specific oil paintings that transform overlooked aspects
of contemporary existence, dignifying the unnoticed while making fleeting moments permanent. Working predominantly from life, direct observation is the foundation of my painting process, which is then enriched by unseen narratives I uncover through research. I then harness the versatility of paint to capture a subject’s unique character through composition, colour, and texture. The resulting paintings become intimate recordings of real life, emanating stillness and reflection through an instinctive style of figurative painting.

Originally from Manchester (UK), I currently work in Fabrikken – Denmark’s largest studio community. Right now I am working on a series of paintings that investigate the area where my studio resides, Sundholm.

Sundholm is an unusual place within the context of Copenhagen, a city regarded as one of the best cities in the world to live. Originally designed as a forced labour camp to rehabilitate society’s reprobates, today Sundholm cares for some of the country’s most vulnerable citizens who face homelessness, addiction and mental problems. Over the past three months I have begun to make paintings of the area, from both my studio and from around the neighbourhood while also speaking with the area’s residents and workers. I want to use this project to develop and expand my practice to supplement my practice of painting from life with
more reflective studies from memory and from feeling, incorporating the more ephemeral experiences I encounter directly and through my research that go beyond the merely visible."

Rose P. Bendixen, born in 2000 and based in
Berlin, works in painting and linocut to explore the weird and tender business of being human.

Her vivid canvases often depict faceless figures in stretched, dreamlike interiors - spaces that feel like homes unraveling. Her characters move through intimacy, awkwardness, softness, and solitude, suspended between the deeply personal
and the universally recognizable.

Language flickers throughout her works:
fragmented thoughts, unsent messages, and quiet commentary on care, attachment, gender, and emotional survival. Rose’s work is at once vulnerable and knowing, a poetic documentation of what it feels like to live in a world that often forgets to feel.

Anne Mie Bak creates upcycled photo-textile works that explore climate grief and the fragility of nature. Based in Denmark, her practice is rooted in photography but expands into the sculptural and tactile. Using misprinted photographs, plastic fragments, and discarded tulle, she weaves and layers materials into semi- transparent installations that hover between presence and disappearance.

Through this process, she gives new life to waste, transforming remnants into visual landscapes that echo both the beauty and the vulnerability of the natural world. Her vivid aesthetic draws viewers in, only to reveal quieter reflections on the slow erosion of rural communities and our strained relationship with the natural world. Underneath the beauty, a haunting question lingers: where is humanity headed?

Emma Sloth is a Danish visual artist, who
holds a BA in Visual Communication
from the Royal Danish Academy. From
her atelier in Copenhagen she works with
painting, drawing and sculpture.

In her work she explores the tension
between fantasy and reality, the familiar
and the unknown. Drawing inspiration
from folklore, fantasy and animism, her
works portraits a intangible world filled
with strange creatures and spirits with
unknown intensions. Her work often
incorporates symbols and motifs from
folk traditions, reimagined in a
contemporary context, exploring themes
of interconnectedness and modern
spirituality.

Mathilde Olsen (she/her) is a Danish artist living in and working from Nørrebro,
Copenhagen. She dedicates her art to portraits and to exploring the cross field
between art and architecture. Her medium is glass and craft paper and besides
acrylic paint, she works with watercolor and colored pencil.

She won the 2024
edition of the TV program ‘Portrait artist of the year’/ ‘Danmarks Bedste
Portrætmaler’. She graduated from The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts
Architecture School in 2018.

Galeria 18 presents How to Be Human,
a solo exhibition by Danish artist Iris
Bendt-Hedal. With bold colours,
layered figures, and expressive
brushwork, Bendt-Hedal explores how
we live within social structures (the
norms, expectations, and hierarchies)
that shape us, and beyond them, as we
try to break free or find our own
expression.

Her paintings are playful, ironic, and
embody both the wild and the
restrained, the delicate and the raw —
the many selves we shift between in
our attempt to belong.

How to Be Human invites viewers to
reflect on what it means to be human
— to navigate emotion, connection,
and the need to be seen in an
increasingly self-centred society.

Iris Bendt-Hedal is a Danish artist
whose practice revolves around the
social and cultural structures that shape
human behaviour. Through contrasts of
beauty and rawness, she explores how
emotion, power, and vulnerability
coexist in contemporary life. Her work
has been exhibited in several galleries
across Denmark and in New York.

Sara Mai (she/her) is a self-taught artist with a background in graphic design,
art direction, and animation. She has developed a distinctive approach to the
female form, blending geometric and substantial elements with organic and
flowing qualities.

By embracing the symbolism of women, Mai strives to create
paintings that are both visually captivating and carry a small story from our
contemporary world. Sara also works in ceramics, crafting sculptures that
explore the dynamic interplay between organic and geometric shapes. Each
piece reflects a deliberate and harmonious coexistence, inviting the viewer to
immerse themselves in the subtle details. Sara Mai lives and works in
Copenhagen, Denmark.

Helena Rye, a self-taught artist based
in Copenhagen, works primarily with
soft pastels and oil paint to create
ethereal, meditative pieces. Her art
explores transformation and the
connection between the inner and
outer world through fluid forms,
florals, and drapery. With a dreamlike
and harmonious expression, her works
invite the viewer into a space of
stillness and contemplation—a
sanctuary amidst life’s chaos.

"My goal is to evoke a sense of peace
and belonging in the midst of a chaotic
world, allowing the viewer to find
tranquility and contemplation in the
poetic expression of my works."

Gökçe Tercioglu (she/her) is a marble artist based in Copenhagen who
has been working with the ancient Turkish art of paper marbling for over
a decade.

Embracing innovative approaches, Gökçe focuses on creating depth and
3D abstract shapes in her paintings. She uses the technique as it has been
used hundreds of years ago, however, with her own unique modern
touch she minimises the effects of the traditional tools and experiments
with the undone.

She paints on the water’s surface with earth pigments, the oldest way of
using color, and tools found in nature such as horse hair bound to rose
twigs as brushes.

Marbling serves as a constant wellspring of inspiration, guides a
meditative approach to art and fosters a deep appreciation for the present
moment.