« Kjærgaard explores imagination and fantasy, creating female-centred paradigms in a non-utopian era. Her strength lies in depicting movement — clear and striking. »
Eve Hill-Agnus
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And the sky was made of Ametyst -
Family band in rehearsal
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Flying piano, Riding drums
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Game of you, game of me
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Jazzing it up – while bassing down
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My scars were reflecting in the mist of your headlights
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Negotiating poorly with gravity
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The moon swept down black water like an empty spotlight
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The sky caves in
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UNTITLED
Mie Olise Kjærgaard (born in 1974 in Mors, Denmark) is a Danish artist whose practice brings together painting, sculpture, and installation. After studying architecture at the Aarhus School of Architecture and The Bartlett (UCL, London), she obtained a Master of Fine Arts from Central Saint Martins in 2008. This dual training informs a body of work in which the construction of space is in constant dialogue with the freedom of the painterly gesture.
Since the beginning of her career, Mie Olise Kjærgaard has developed a monumental painting practice centred on the representation of women. Far removed from the passive figures of the Western tradition, her characters run, sail, play music, build, explore, or confront unstable landscapes. They become the protagonists of narratives in which movement, autonomy, and imagination take precedence over any form of stereotypical representation.
Her work draws equally from art history and women’s history. Suffragettes, female athletes who have conquered new spaces of freedom, and women artists of the past all inform her universe. Many of her paintings also borrow their titles from works created by female artists, establishing a dialogue between different generations of women creators.
Mie Olise Kjærgaard’s painting is distinguished by remarkable gestural energy, large-scale compositions, and vibrant colour. Her bodies appear to be constantly in motion, sometimes suspended within spaces where architecture, nature, and imagination intertwine. This dynamic creates a distinctive tension between reality and fiction, in which the fantastical becomes a tool for emancipation rather than a refuge.
Her work has been the subject of numerous solo exhibitions at the Trapholt Museum of Art and Design (Denmark), the Karpidas Collection (Dallas), The Journal Gallery (New York), Barbara Davis Gallery (Houston), and Foundry Seoul. She has also participated in exhibitions at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Torrance Art Museum. The recipient of several international residencies, including Skowhegan, ISCP New York, and Art Omi, she continues to pursue an international career while living and working in Copenhagen.
Since 2023, Ketabi Bourdet gallery has supported her work in France through several exhibitions, including Body Double and Skipping the Beat, dedicated to her most recent explorations of movement, music, rhythm, and the freedom of the female body.
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Review: Mie Olise’s exploration of the frailty of ‘home’
Sharon Mizota, Los Angeles Times, 11 November 2014 -
Interview: Artist Mie Olise Kjærgaard
In a series of interviews, we zoom in on a selection of people who literally put art first, letting their lives unfold with, in-between and through art. The Art First Series features strong voices who share their ideas about why art matters to them, havinArtland Editors, Artland Magazine, 7 December 2018 -
CHLOÉ DÉVOILE LE LANCEMENT DE CHLOÉ ARTS
Édition 1: Mie Olise KjærgaardChloé, 5 February 2025
Selected Bibliography
- Artland Magazine – Interview de Mie Olise Kjærgaard.
- Los Angeles Times – Review.
- L'Équipe – Figures libres.
- Chloé Arts – Édition 1 : Mie Olise Kjærgaard.
Collections / Institutions
- Trapholt Museum of Art and Design
- Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
- Utah Museum of Contemporary Art
- Torrance Art Museum