Light artist and textile designer, Astrid Krogh, was born in Denmark in 1968.  Krogh graduated from the textile faculty of the Danish Design School, and is today recognized as a leading innovator in the intersecting fields of art, textile design, technology, and architectural intervention. Krogh anchors her art to new technologies by weaving optic strands into iridescent tapestries and creating optic fiber and LED sculptures that glow and illuminate in a rainbow of colors. With the subtle changing of patterns and colourways in the pieces, Astrid Krogh’s work creates a momentary pause in a high-speed world, showing that the cutting edge of art and design is not razor sharp, but as sensuous and soft as the subtle illuminations she creates.

« I like to work with high-tech materials in a low-tech way ».

Combining her textile design skills with technological know-how and state-of-the-art materials, Astrid Krogh started already by the end of the 1990s with monumental optical fiber weavings for various museum exhibitions and site-specific commissions. Krogh’s point of departure from conventional textile design was not merely her fascination for light, but also her attraction to shape-morphing objects and shifting colourways. « I use light as both a material and a technology », Krogh explains. « The presence of light is an essential component of my work. Light enables my textiles to pulsate, change patterns and create an entire spectrum of ever-changing colourways ».

Astrid Krogh succeeds in giving light a soft and tactile quality, proposing a highly original and poetic vocabulary based on contemplative perception and sensual color experience. In pieces like the Meadow or the Sky, the work changes into different hues of colors in a very slowly and hardly perceptible way therefore creating a poetic and sensorial experience.

Astrid Krogh’s works have been shown at various international exhibitions, museums and she has done important site-specific commissions such as the Maersk building, the Danish Parliament and the 21 C Museum in Cincinnati.

« I begin each commission by travelling to the site to look at existing lighting, the flow of human traffic and the general buzz around it », Krogh says. « I set out to truly integrate work into the space so that it becomes a part of it. Every building has a unique atmosphere; every space has its own soul. My work is born out of feeling, yet, takes shape according to the physical characteristics of the space ».

Astrid Krogh’s pieces are published in several important books about contemporary textiles, architecture and design and she has won several design prizes, including The Danish Art Foundation in 2006, 2009 et 2011. Krogh won the Thorvald Bindesboell Medal in 2008 and received the Inga & Ejvind Kold Christensen Prize. In 2015, Astrid Krogh was attributed the Annual Honorary Grant of the National Bank of Denmark and in 2016, she received the Finn Juhl Architecture Prize.

 

STUDIES

1995 – 1997     Institute for Product Design

1992-1995     Denmark’s Design School: Textile Department

 

PRIZES AND AWARDS

2016     Finn Juhl Architecture Prize

2015     Annual Honorary Grant of the National Bank of Denmark

2013     Inga og Ejvind Kold Christensens Fonds hæderspris

2012     Knud V Engelhardts Mindelegat

2008     Thorvald Bindesbøll Medaljen Kulturministeriets designpulje, Rejselegat

2007     Non Nobis Fonden / Danish Crafts, Legat til project ‘China Town–limited edition’

2006     Statens Kunstfond, Arbejdslegat / Danish Solarfonden, rejselegat / Crafts, udstillingslegat / Arbejdslegat, Statens Værksteder for Kunst og Håndværk, Gammel Dok Pakhus, København

2004     Danmarks Nationalbanks Jubilæumsfond af 1968

2003     Ole Haslunds Kunstnerfond (kunstnerpris for 2003) Arbejdslegat, Statens Værksteder for Kunst og Håndværk, Gammel Dok Pakhus, København

2002     Statens Kunstfond ́s 3-årige arbejdslegat Danmarks Nationalbanks Jubilæumsfond af 1968

2001     Martha og Paul René Gauguins Fond (fondens kunstnerpris for 2001) Thomas B. Thriges Fond
Augustinus Fonden / Grosserer L.F. Foghts Fond / Danmarks Nationalbanks Jubilæumsfond af 1968 Politikenfonden / Arbejdslegat, Statens Værksteder for Kunst og Håndværk, Gammel Dok Pakhus, København

2000     Arbejdslegat, Statens Værksteder for Kunst og Håndværk, Gammel Dok Pakhus, København

1999     Arbejdslegat, Statens Værksteder for Kunst og Håndværk Gammel Dok Pakhus, KøbenhavnOTHER

2014- 2018     Chairman of the Project Support Committee for Crafts and Design, The Danish Arts Foundation

2007     Boardmember for Denmark’s National Banks Jubilæumsfond af 1968

2006     Boardmember of the Danish Ministry of Culture. Cultural canon http://www.kum.dk/sw37439.asp

2005     Leader of workshop Northern Fibre 06, Finland

2004     Curator, Biennale 2004 (Danish Craft) / Marts—May 2000 / Lecturer, Denmark’s Design School

July 2000 / Member of ‘Stroom’, Den Haags centrum voor beeldende kunst, Holland / April 1999—2004

Redaktionsmedlem af ‘Dansk Kunsthåndværk’

May 1998—September 1999     Undervisningsassistent, Danmarks Designskole

 

WORKS AND PUBLIC COMMISSIONS

2017     Commission, Church, Rigshositalet, Copenhagen / Commission, Danish University Centre, Beijing

2016     Commission, Children Hospital, Göteborg / Commission, Church, Rigshositalet, Copenhagen

2015     Nykøbing Katedralskole, Denmark / Teglverket Skole, Norway / The Flag Project, 21C Hotels, Durham, USA / Sticks and Sushi, Copenhagen / Longchamp, Paris, France / Printemps, Paris, France / Högskolan / Malmø (Statens Konstfond, Sweden)

2014     Private commission, Los Angeles, USA / Sketch for Longchamp, Paris / Sketch for Frederiksbergbyggeriet, Århus / Sketch for Teglverkets School, Oslo, Norway

2013     Askim Ungdomsskole, Norge / Sketch, “Hospital Lillebælt”

2012     “Lightmail”, 21 C Museum Hotel, Cincinnati, Ohio / Private commission, “Morild”, Paris / Sketch, Danish University Centre, Beijing (The House of the Danish Industry Foundation – Ny Carlsbergfondet) / Sketch, Högskolan, Malmø (Statens Konstfond, Sweden) / Sketch, Nya Karolinska Solna, Stockholm

2011     ‘Kamelia’, Kolding, 4×4 metre Neontapestry / Sketch for “Two Tunnels Project”, Bath; Great Britain / Sketch for Högskolen, Oslo, Norge

2010     ’Myriad’, Ceremony Room, Halden Prison, Norway 5 x 5 metre light tapestry

2009     Vollsmose Kulturhus,, 4 x 4 Light mobile / Gigantium, Aalborg, 5 x 6 meter neontapestry

2008     ’Myriad’, Ceremony room, Halden Prison, Norway (Erik Møller Architects), 5 x 5 metre light tapestry / ’Flower of life’, Sittard Hospital, The Netherlands 5 x 5 metre light mobile

2007     ’Light fall’, NRGI Aarhus (SHL architects) 2 stk 2 x 14 meter light tapestry (optical fibre)

‘Flora’, Kolding Commune, Neon wallpaper, 12 x 11 metres, Dorte Mandrup Architects / ‘Coral’, Birkerød Aktivitetscenter, swim pool Mosaic / 5 x 5 meter

2006     ”Snow flakes”, Bergen, Norway / Løvåsen Sykehjem 8 stk light tapestry, neon, Facade, 8 x 100 metre, Birkerød Aktivitetscenter / Schmidt, Hammer & Lassen Architects (SHL) / Sketch for Mr. S. Gabbana, Portofino, summer residence

2005     Frederiksberg Slots Ridehus / Grønnegades Kulturcenter, Næstved, 2 stk neon tapestry

2003     ‘Polytics’, The Danish Parliament, Christiansborg, 3 x 8 meter neon tapestry / ’Ornament’, 2,6 x 3,6 meters neon tapestry, bought by The National Art Foundation.

2002     Reception, DSB, Sølvgade; København, Glassfacade m. Optical fibre (3x10m)

2001     Design for Coloplast A.S / DSB, Sølvgade, Copenhagen, carpet (8x12m) + 3 stk metal goblin / Mærsk Data A/S, Vibenhus Runddel, Copenhagen, weaving stainless steel + neon (4x14m) / C.F.Møllers Architects

2000     Design for Velux A/S, Denmark

1999     The Royal Library, Diamanten, Copenhagen

 

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2016     Galerie Maria Wettergren, Paris

2015     National Bank, Denmark

2012     Galerie Maria Wettergren, Paris

2011     Design Miami/Basel – Galerie Maria Wettergren

2010     Gallery NB, Viborg

2006     ‘Ideal House, 2006’ IMM Messe, Cologne

2005     ‘Potential volumes by light’ Malmø kunstmuseum

2002     ‘Tapeter’ / Det Dansk Kunstindustrimuseum, Copenhagen

2000     ‘light mail’ Trapholt, Kolding

 

EXHIBITIONS

2017     Design Miami Basel /Galerie Maria Wettergren

Pavillion Arts et Design, Paris + London

2016     Design Nu, Designmuseum Denmark

2015     Museum of Fine Arts, Boston / Design Miami Basel – Galerie Maria Wettergren / Designmuseum Denmark, Copenhagen

2014     Design Miami Basel – Galerie Maria Wettergren / D’Days, Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature, Paris / BUILDING WITH TEXTILES – Textile Museum, Tilburg, NL

Pavillion Arts et Design London – Galerie Maria Wettergren; Design Miami Basel – Galerie Maria Wettergren /

2013     D’Days/ Musée Nationale Eugène Delacroix, Paris / Pavillion Arts et Design Paris/ London- Galerie Maria Wettergren ; Design Miami Basel – Galerie Maria Wettergren / The Rijswijk Textile Biennial 2013 / Mindcraft, Il Saloni, Milan

2012     Pavillion Arts et Design, Paris + London “Movements”, Risør Kunstpark, Norge / Design Miami Basel – Galerie Maria Wettergren Design Miami

2011     Pavillion Arts et Design, Paris / 7th Tournai International Triennial of Contemporary Textile Arts Design Miami – Galerie Maria Wettergren

2010     Galerie Maria Wettergren, Paris / ‘It ́s a small world’, Shanghai Cosmos, Silkeborg Bad / Il Saloni, Danish Crafts, Milan

2009    Il Saloni, Milan / “it ́s a small world”, Danish Design Centre

2008     Il Saloni, Milan

2007     Biennalen 2007 Koldinghus

2006     ‘Honey I’m Home’, Danish Design Centre

2005     ‘The 5th Textile Art Biennale Kaunas Lithuania / ‘Index 2005’ / Dansk Design Centre / ‘Konsthandverk / Roda Sten, Göteborg, Sweden / ‘Danish – framing the future of design’ The Danish Center / ‘Use It’ Dansk Design Center, Tokyo

2004     ‘STUFF’ / Danish Crafts, Toronto / ‘The 11.th International Triennial of Tapestry’ Lodz, Poland

2003     ‘Scandinavian Design beyond the Myth’ Kunstgewerbemuseum, Berlin / ‘Derfor’ / Danish Craft, Paustian, Copenhagen

2002     ‘Fremtidens tradition, Danish Craft, Paris

2001     ‘Young Nordic Design: The Generation X’ / Scandinavia House, New York Washington, Mexico, Finland (Design forum), Berlin (Det Nordiske Hus)

2000     ‘Danish Wave’ China