inter.pblc

NÅLEHÆKKEN 1985 / 2026

MARIANNE HESSELBJERG 01.10.26–25.10.26

inter.pblc is proud to present Nålehækken 1985 / 2026 by Marianne Hesselbjerg.

The solo exhibition Nålehækken (The Needle Hedge) centres on one artwork, expanded into a full-scale installation that occupies the entire space of inter.pblc and extends its presence towards the street. The industrial material and the almost threatening structure are set against an unexpected elegance.

2200 hand-placed needles pierce the wall, crossing and extending into the surrounding space. Their sharpness evokes danger, protection, and barriers. And, what initially appears as a brutal obstruction gradually becomes an invitation to look closer - observe its details and experience the tension between resistance and fragility.

Created in 1985, Hesselbjerg’s work carries its historical moment, yet Nålehækken feels strikingly rele- vant, as its confrontation with ideas of boundaries, protection and vulnerability continues to resonate.

Nålehækken (1985)
Steel construction, 6000 x 100 x 1320 mm,
and 2200 needles, 800 mm each

ABOUT
In a number of different works from the 1980s and onwards, Hesselbjerg explores the barrier as a phys- ical, pictorial and significance-laden category. Her piece Nålehækken (The Needle Hedge), from 1985, is a spatial steel construction that slices its way through the room. The barrier is perforated by thin steel rods that have been grinded to sharp tips at the one end, so that they look like oversized needles. The work-title’s reference to the garden’s space stands in contrast to the industrial materials from which the work has been built, and which could potentially become a form of second nature.

The sharp needles expand the artwork’s radius and literally keep the body away at some dis- tance. The hundreds of needles create a form of visual veil or defense surrounding the architectonic form and pose a question about the boundary between inside and outside. In Hesselbjerg’s works, there’s a recurrent negotiation between object, picture and language. Nålehækken (The Needle Hedge) is accordingly both a physical and affective barrier, an image of a barrier, and a mental conception in the language: a dream or memory, translated into form. Text by Magnus Thorø Clausen

Marianne Hesselbjerg (b. 1949) is a Danish sculptor based in Copenhagen. She graduated from the Roy- al Danish Academy of Fine Arts in 1986 and has since developed a distinctive practice spanning sculp- ture, installation, and public art.. Her work has been exhibited extensively in Denmark and internation- ally, and she has received several major Danish art awards, including the Eckersberg Medal in 2012.

The exhibition is supported by Statens Kunstfond, Augustinus Fonden and Lemvigh-Müller Fonden.

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