holly halkes

A colorful abstract painting featuring trees with brown trunks, green and red plants, and a bright sky with clouds, displayed on a white gallery wall.
A woman sitting on a chair in an art gallery with white walls, looking at colorful abstract paintings on display.

exhibitions

“grand opening 2.0” // group exhibition

02.02 - 01.03.2024

"all the things you said, running through my head” // holly halkes
01.12 - 07.01 2024

“I like it. what is it?” // curated by claus busch risvig
02.06 - 06.07 2023

art fairs

2024 enter art fair, albert contemporary, copenhagen, dk

education

2019-2022 BA (Hons) Fine Art, City & Guilds of London Art School (First Class Honours)

2012-2016 BA (Hons) Fashion, Arts University Bournemouth

holly halkes’s paintings engage with the values of the carnivalesque circulating around themes of free interaction, breaking down barriers and playing on eccentric behaviours through her own experiences of what it feels like to live in the 21st century. halkes is interested in creating an alternate social space characterised by freedom and abundance to explore human behaviours and social interactions that border between real life and fantasy.

the work often centres around humour and the relationship we have with it to question self- identity and our surroundings . this is often seen through the artist’s gusto in the way paint is applied which allows for fun moments and ribald laughter. underneath the surface the paintings touch upon internal and external conflicts of sense of self and the world around us, projecting both a vulnerability and a level of anxiety.

A woman seated on a wooden chair in an art gallery with white walls, smiling. There are two large colorful abstract paintings hanging on the walls behind her.