"Performance 1" by Tanja Nis-Hansen features a theatrical spotlight in stark contrast against a dark, textured background, using an interplay of light and shadow to highlight the lamp's intricate details. The artwork captures the solitary object, evoking themes of isolation and focus, common in performance spaces. Nis-Hansen's style blends realism with a sense of abstraction, situating the viewer within a moment of potential action or introspection. The piece reflects on theatricality, possibly symbolizing the vulnerabilities and pressures faced by individuals under scrutiny in contemporary life. ...
Tanja Nis-Hansen (b. 1988, Denmark) currently residing in Berlin, makes emotionally charged paintings that explore the body as a site of vulnerability, resistance, and disconnection in contemporary life. Her figures often appear paused in states of waiting, resting, or breakdown—gestures that reflect on exhaustion, illness, care, and the invisible labor that surrounds them. Drawing from her own experiences, she weaves together personal, social, and psychological themes, using recurring motifs like spiral staircases, clinical interiors, and fragmented text to evoke the tensions between stillness and collapse.
Her painterly language blends theatrical composition with references to performance, literature, and art history. Flat, stage-like spaces and stylized bodies create a sense of emotional distance, while recurring environments suggest loops of anxiety, caretaking, and reflection. Her works speak to the complexity of embodiment, especially in relation to gendered expectations, family, and the systems—economic, cultural, medical—that shape how we inhabit our bodies.
Nis-Hansen is currently represented by Sans titre, Paris. Other recent presentations include Galerie im Turm (Berlin), Harkawik (New York), Union Pacific (London, Condo), and Mécènes du Sud (Montpellier). Her work is held in the permanent collections of the Danish Arts Foundation and the New Carlsberg Foundation. In 2026, she will present solo exhibitions at Kasseler Kunstverein Museen (Kassel), Five Churches (Los Angeles), and OTP (Copenhagen). ...
Sans titre is a gallery based in Paris. It initially operated as a project space and after three years of a nomadic existence (2016 – 2019) and numerous atypical spaces occupied (private apartments, industrial spaces, parking lots, a shipyard, a few hotel rooms, restaurants, etc.), Sans titre moved into a permanent address and embraced the gallery model. It is now located 13, rue Michel Le Comte, a few steps from the Centre Pompidou, in a former Restoration-era bar, whose facade is registered as a Historic Monument. Throughout, Sans titre works to promote international artists in the early stages of their careers. Alongside organizing exhibitions in a multidisciplinary approach, the gallery publishes fanzines, produces edition and creates events related to the represented artists. ...
