Press release —
Jochen Lempert invites viewers to experience new perspectives on nature in his first solo exhibition in Denmark
Jochen Lempert
Flora Incognita
26 September 2026 – 21 February 2027
Kunsthal Charlottenborg presents a major exhibition by German artist Jochen Lempert, whose black-and-white photographs invite visitors to slow down and rediscover the natural world.
Press Preview: Thursday 24 September, 10.00–12.00
Kunsthal Charlottenborg invites the press to a preview of the three new exhibitions opening this autumn. The artists, curators, and the Director of Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Helene Nyborg Bay, will be present to introduce the exhibitions. For registration and interview requests, please contact: Jeannie Møller Haltrup, jmh@kunsthalcharlottenborg.dk.
This autumn, Kunsthal Charlottenborg presents the first solo exhibition in Denmark by acclaimed German artist Jochen Lempert (b. 1958). Spanning more than three decades of artistic practice, the exhibition brings together a broad selection of works that reveal the subtle beauty, complexity, and interconnectedness of life on Earth.
Trained as a biologist, Lempert combines scientific observation with artistic sensitivity. His analogue black-and-white photographs focus on details and patterns from the natural world: the shape of ocean waves, reflections of light, the delicate geometry of a flower or the quiet individuality of each living organism. Through these attentive observations, he reveals the extraordinary in our sourroundings.
In an age defined by acceleration, distraction, and environmental crisis, Lempert’s work offers a space for concentration and contemplation. His photographs are displayed unframed and arranged in carefully composed groupings that establish unexpected relationships between plants, animals, objects, and people. Visitors are encouraged to discover visual connections and rhythms that unfold gradually over time.
“Jochen Lempert’s works remind us that attention is a form of care. His photographs invite us to look more closely at the world around us and discover connections with nature through details that gently emerge when we take the time to be present in the moment,” says Helene Nyborg Bay, Director at Kunsthal Charlottenborg.
A central aspect of Lempert’s practice is the materiality of photography itself. Working with analogue processes, he develops and prints his photographs by hand. Alongside camera-based works, the exhibition also includes photographic pieces made without a camera, such as Glowworm, in which the movement of a glowworm is recorded directly onto light-sensitive film through the traces of its own bioluminescence.
His works explore themes ranging from botany and marine life to the relationship between urban and natural ecosystems. The exhibition will feature works from the early 1990s to 2026.
Over the past three decades, Jochen Lempert has established an international reputation through exhibitions at institutions including Centre Pompidou in Paris, Museum Ludwig in Cologne, and Izu Photo Museum in Japan. His works are represented in major public collections, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Centre Pompidou in Paris, and Hamburger Kunsthalle in Hamburg.
The exhibition is supported by the Augustinus Foundation, the Danish Arts Foundation, and the Obel Family Foundation.
About the artist
Jochen Lempert (b. 1958, Moers, Germany) lives and works in Hamburg. He studied biology at Friedrich Wilhelms University in Bonn, specialising in dragonfly ecology. Before turning fully to photography in the late 1980s, he co-founded the experimental film collective Schmelzdahin, which explored the material and chemical possibilities of celluloid film. Since then, he has developed a singular photographic practice that has earned international recognition, including the Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach Foundation Grant for Contemporary Photography, the Ars Viva Photography Prize, and the Camera Austria Award.
Facts
Jochen Lempert: Flora Incognita
26 September 2026 – 21 February 2027
Press Preview: 24 September, 10.00-12.00
Season Opening: 25 September, 17.00-22.00
Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Kongens Nytorv 1, DK-1050 Copenhagen
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Press Contact
Jeannie Møller Haltrup
Head of Communications, Kunsthal Charlottenborg
jmh@kunsthalcharlottenborg.dk / +45 33 74 46 29
www.kunsthalcharlottenborg.dk
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Kunsthal Charlottenborg is one of the oldest and most beautiful exhibition spaces for contemporary art in Northern Europe. The exhibition space presents an ambitious program with international outlook featuring talents as well as established stars from both Denmark and abroad. The exhibition program is supplemented with a large number of activities like artist talks, performances, concerts and film screenings.
