Mixing conceptual links to philosophy and biology with rigorous and detailed craft and manufacturing techniques, the work of Lene Bødker (Danish, b. 1958) explores the unique liveliness of glass as her chosen medium and its inherent connection to nature. Her use of cire perdue, the lost wax technique first mastered by bronze casters centuries ago, allows her final forms to translate the fluidity of molten glass once cooled. Working between her workshop in Roskilde and her studio on the Sjællands Odde peninsula, her time-consuming practice consists of modeling in clay followed by wax and plaster casting before hot glass fills the empty mold. Surface finishing is completed by hand with a hammer and chisel. The laborious nature of her process contributes to a contemplative approach to her craft; in fact, Bødker often incorporates meditation at the start of each project to create a sense of calm and presence within her workshop. Combining tactile surface treatments with a strong sensuality achieved through the fusion of natural forms and colors, her work also approaches the spiritual, constantly connecting and questioning our position within nature.
Bødker graduated from the Royal Danish Academy of Art in 1992 with a degree in Ceramics and Glass, and has since become one of the most distinguished glass artists throughout the Nordic countries. Her work has garnered significant recognition, including the Grand Prize at the International Exhibition of Glass Kanazawa in 2007. Recent highlights include the Loewe Craft Prize exhibition at the Noguchi Museum in 2023 and a solo exhibition at the Glasmuseum Ebeltoft in 2022. Her pieces are part of esteemed public collections worldwide, including the Design Museum in Copenhagen, the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, and the Musée des Arts Decoratifs in Paris.
Contemporary works by five of today’s most distinguished Scandinavian glass artists are beautifully arrayed at HB381 for the Manhattan gallery’s annual Summer Group Show. Spotlighting Stine Bidstrup, Lene Bødker, Frida Fjellman, Hanna Hansdotter, and Maria Koshenkova through August 16, the exhibition is brimming with dazzling confections that represent an array of techniques including casting, mouth-blowing, sand-blasting, and mirroring. Each of the five women produce works of differing forms and functions, with some favoring hard-edge crystalline shapes and others going a more Baroque, organic route—but they are all united by their desire to push the bounds of what is possible through the famously finicky medium.
LENE BØDKER
b. 1958, Denmark
EDUCATION
1992
Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen, Denmark
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2022
Stories to Be Told, Glasmuseum Ebeltoft, Ebeltoft, Denmark
2021
My Inner Garden, Bredgade Kunsthandel, Copenhagen, Denmark
2018
Nedslag, Galleri NB, Viborg, Denmark
Who Are You?, Galleri Glass, Stockholm, Sweden
2017
What Follows, Galerie Maria Lund, Paris, France
2016
Exhibition of Glass Works, Maison Louis Carré, Bazoches-sur-Guyonne, France
2010
Arte Moda, Gallery Leon Salet, Maastricht, The Netherlands
2009
Galerie Maria Lund, Paris, France
2008
Galleri NB, Viborg, Denmark
2007
Glasmuseum Ebeltoft, Ebeltoft, Denmark
2005
Galerie Maria Lund, La Galerie Danoise, Paris, France
Politiken Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark
2000
Galleri Gronlund, Copenhagen, Denmark
1995
C. E. Fritzsche, Copenhagen, Denmark
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024
Summer Group Show, HB381, New York, NY, USA
2023
Craft Prize, Loewe Foundation, The Noguchi Museum, Queens, NY, USA
2017
Handmade – Scandinavian Glass Starting All Over, The Glass Factory, Boda, Sweden
2016
Great Danes, GlazenHuis, Lommel, Belgium
2015
DG15: 40 Years of Contemporary Glass in Denmark, Glasmuseum Ebeltoft, Ebeltoft, Denmark
2013
Glass, Holstebro Artmuseum, Holsterbo, Denmark
2012
Architectural Hallway, Silkeborg Bad, Silkeborg, Denmark
2009
Connections, Prague, Czech Republic
Biënnale Kijkduin, The Hague, The Netherlands
2007
Glass, Museum of Art & Design, Copenhagen, Denmark
2006
The Danes: Contemporary Glass at Heller Gallery, Heller Gallery, New York, NY, USA
2004
Glass, Holstebro Artmuseum, Holstebro, Denmark
2002
Global Glass, Marx-Saunders Gallery LTD, Chicago, IL, USA
2001
Religious Glass Art, Glasmuseum Ebeltoft, Ebeltoft, Denmark
2000
Zugriff – Spirited Approach, Women Glass Artists Today, Kunstmuseum Düsseldorf,
Düsseldorf, Germany
1999
The Nordic Spirit, Glasmuseum Ebeltoft, Ebeltoft, Denmark
1998
New Danish Glass, National Glass Centre, Sunderland, UK
1997
A World of Glass, Hadeland Glasverk, Jevnaker, Norway
Design Nordic Way, St. Petersburg, Russia; Kalmar, Sweden; Bergen, Norway
Women in Scandinavia, Kalmar, Sweden
1996
Unika – Danish Crafts 1996, The Danish Museum of Decorative Art, Copenhagen, Denmark
Musée du Verre, Charleroi, Belgium
1995
Glass in Dialogue, Villa Eksternest, Rumbeke, Belgium
1994
Galleri L, Hamburg, Germany
1992
The Danish Museum of Decorative Art, Copenhagen, Denmark
GRANTS AND AWARDS
Anne Marie Telmanyi Born Carl-Nielsens Foundation
Inga & Ejvind Kold Christensens Foundation
The Danish Crafts Council’s Annual Prize
The Danish National Art Foundation
The Danish National Art Foundation, three-year work scholarship
The Danish Arts Foundation, lifelong grant from 2012
The Hempel Glass Prize, honorary award
The Ole Haslund Art Fondation, honorary award
Yutta Cuny-Franz Foundation, honorary award
Yutta Cuny-Franz Fondation, supporting prize
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Designcenter Ishigawa, Kanazawa, Japan
Glasmuseum Ebeltoft, Ebeltoft, Denmark
Glasmuseum Hentrich, Museum Kunst Palast, Düsseldorf, Germany
Glasmuseum Lette, Alter Hof Herding, Coesfeld, Germany
Holstebro Art Museum, Denmark, Holstebro, Denmark
Musée-Atelier du Verre, Sars-Poteries, France
Musée des Arts Decoratifs, Paris, France
The Art Foundation, Stockholm, Sweden
The Danish Art Foundation, Copenhagen, Denmark
The Danish Museum of Art and Design, Copenhagen, Denmark
The Swedish Handelsbanken’s Art Association, Stockholm, Sweden
Victoria & Albert Museum, London, UK
