Some Listeners Heal Us Without Reply by Melanie Daniel

Melanie Daniel (CA)
Some Listeners Heal Us Without Reply
August 21 – September 18 2026
Main Gallery

Galleri Christoffer Egelund is pleased to present Some Listeners Heal Us without Reply, a solo exhibition by Canadian artist Melanie Daniel. Marking the artist’s fourth solo exhibition with the gallery, the presentation brings together a new body of work that continues Daniel’s exploration of nature and the complex relationship between humans and the natural world.

While long interested in vibrantly contrary colors, idiosyncratic patterns, and clashing styles, here Daniel turns to a form-centered approach. The entire exhibition transports us to a feverish nature-world. And yet, each painting remains still, at a distance from our current moment, in some wrinkle of space-time that seems familiar. The hills and trees endure as memory, and among them a small cloaked female protagonist acts as a keystone for the narrative to unfold. Is she chanting a message of warning about human interference? A stand-in for the artist, or perhaps the viewer, bearing witness to the earth’s glory? Daniel’s newest series doesn’t settle for clarity and let us explore her ancient yet futuristic landscapes that pulsing radioactively. With mythic resonance, the paintings unfold as folk tales from the future.

Daniel has often played with embedding her figures into the landscape, and here the strategy grows symbolic legs. A hatted woman, in a sort of Stone Age sheath or medieval cloak, hovers in the paintings: sometimes camouflaged as in “Headwall and Recluse” or standing in a fishing boat in “Where Shadows Loiter Cool”. She could be a forgotten deity, or oracular truthteller. Animals and birds such as wolves, squirrels and sparrows add symbolic meanings. Daniel’s pulsing brushstrokes unify what is above and below, the micro- and macrocosmos, providing equal footing for the creatures and lone figures. In “Spirit Free, Endless Sky” a regal figure flanked by a white wolf oversees a dry summer mountainside and darkening sky. “Waterlily Voices” features a blue-skinned woman between the twilight forest and its reflection in the pond, collecting the light of her lantern. Mushrooms appear in several paintings, hinting at the mycelial cycle of regeneration, or with a split night sky exploding with stars in “Sapphired Path”.

The exhibition builds to the escalation of the interdependence of nature and humanity. In “Raucous Ecology”, a woman with a fauna-animated torso bends towards her rooted foot, surrounded by a mushroomed earth. A coiled snake is held in her grip as it spies a squirrel perched on her head. The composition and patterning recall medieval illustrations or tapestries, with tree limbs and fungi tightly focused around a central axis.

As the artist states, “As science endeavors to forge ahead, i.e. with A.I. or Starlink, leaves still fall to the forest floor where they decay and become part of the soil. The leaf is committed to follow nature’s binding order and so are we. Never mistake nature’s silence for weakness.” Daniel offers greater awareness to the participants of this process, animating each tree, bird, or mountain top with her signature symphonic painting style. Through her shamanic figures, she navigates these fragile landscapes before human activity alters them completely.

Melanie Daniel (b. 1972 in Victoria, British Columbia) is an internationally renowned Canadian artist. She has exhibited at galleries and museums around the world in cities like New York (US), LA (US), Miami (US), London (UK), Lyon (FR), Montreal (CA) Christchurch (NZ), Stockholm (SE) and Copenhagen (DK). She holds a BA in science, literature and philosophy and a BFA and MFA and is the recipient of the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant, the New York Foundation for the Arts Grant, the Creative Capital Grant, and the NARS Foundation Residency in New York City. Her art is represented in private and public collections around the world, including the Harvard Business School collection, and the Brandes Family Art Collection, and has been featured on CBC/Radio Canada, in Frieze Magazine, and in Newsweek Magazine. 

Join us at the exhibition opening and meet the artist at Bredgade 75 on august 21st, 2026, from 16:00 to 19:00. The exhibition runs from August 21 to September 18, 2026. For further information and sales requests, please contact the gallery at: hello@christofferegelund.dk or at +45 33 93 92 00. Visit us at Bredgade 75, DK-1260 Copenhagen K, Denmark. Opening hours: Wednesday-Friday 15:00-18:00, Saturday 12:00-16:00, or by appointment.

[DK]

Galleri Christoffer Egelund er stolt af at præsentere Some Listeners Heal Us without Reply, en solo udstilling af den canadiske kunstner Melanie Daniel. Med kunstnerens fjerde soloudstilling hos galleriet præsenteres en ny serie værker, der viderefører Daniels undersøgelse af naturen og det komplekse forhold mellem mennesket og den naturlige verden.

Trods en lang interesse i stærke kontrastfarver, unikke mønstre og sammenstød mellem forskellige stilarter, retter Daniel her blikket mod en mere formorienteret tilgang. Hele udstillingen fører os ind i en feberagtig natur-verden. Og alligevel forbliver hvert maleri stille, på afstand af vores egen tid, i en foldning af rum og tid, der virker velkendt. Bakkerne og træerne består som et minde, og iblandt dem spiller en lille kappeklædt kvindelig hovedfigur, en nøglerolle i fortællingens udfoldelse. Messer hun en advarsel om menneskets indgriben? Er hun kunstnerens stedfortræder – eller måske beskueren – som bevidner jordens storhed? Daniels nyeste serie nøjes ikke med klarhed men lader os udforske hendes antikke og på samme tid futuristiske landskaber, der pulserer næsten radioaktivt. Med mytisk klang folder malerierne sig ud som folkeeventyr fra fremtiden.

Daniel har ofte leget med at indlejre sine figurer i landskabet, og her vokser strategien til noget mere symbolsk. En kvinde med hat, iført en slags stenalderdragt eller middelalderlig kappe, svæver gennem malerierne: nogle gange camoufleret som i “Headwall and Recluse”, eller stående i en fiskebåd i “Where Shadows Loiter Cool”. Hun kunne være en glemt gudeskikkelse eller en orakelagtig sandhedsforkynder. Dyr og fugle som ulve, egern og spurve tilføjer symbolske betydninger. Daniels pulserende penselstrøg forener det ovenfor og nedenfor, mikro- og makrokosmos, og giver lige vilkår til både skabninger og ensomme figurer. I “Spirit Free, Endless Sky” skuer en majestætisk figur, flankeret af en hvid ulv, udover en tør sommerbjergside og en mørknende himmel. “Waterlily Voices” viser en blåhudet kvinde mellem tusmørkeskoven og dens spejling i dammen, hvor hun samler lyset fra sin lanterne. Svampe optræder i flere malerier og antyder myceliets cyklus af regeneration, eller i “Sapphired Path” et splittet nattehimmelrum, der eksploderer i stjerner.

Udstillingen kulminerer i en erkendelse af naturens og menneskets indbyrdes afhængighed. I “Raucous Ecology” bøjer en kvinde, hvis torso er sammensat af dyr, sig ned mod sin rodfæstede fod, omgivet af svampe, der breder sig over jorden. I hånden holder hun en sammenrullet slange, der spejder efter et egern, som sidder på hendes hoved. Kompositionen og mønsterdannelsen leder tankerne hen på middelalderlige illustrationer eller billedtæpper, hvor grene og svampe er tæt samlet omkring en central akse.

Som kunstneren selv udtrykker det:

“Mens videnskaben stræber efter at bevæge sig fremad, eksempelvis med AI eller Starlink, falder bladene stadig til skovbunden, hvor de nedbrydes og bliver en del af jorden. Bladet er forpligtet til at følge naturens ufravigelige orden, og det samme er vi. Forveksl aldrig naturens stilhed med svaghed.”

Daniel skærper deltagernes bevidsthed om denne proces ved at besjæle hvert træ, hver fugl og hver bjergtop med sin karakteristiske, symfoniske malestil. Gennem sine shamanistiske figurer bevæger hun sig gennem disse skrøbelige landskaber, før menneskelig aktivitet forandrer dem fuldstændigt.

Melanie Daniel (f. 1972 i Victoria, British Columbia) er en internationalt anerkendt canadisk kunstner. Hun har udstillet på gallerier og museer over hele verden i bl.a. New York (US), LA (US), Miami (US), London (UK), Lyon (FR), Montreal (CA) Christchurch (NZ), Stockholm (SE) and Copenhagen (DK). Hun er uddannet BA i videnskab, litteratur og filosofi, uddannet BFA og MFA og har modtaget stipendier fra The Pollock-Krasner Foundation, The New York Foundation for the Arts, The Creative Capital, og har modtaget The NARS Foundation Residency i New York. Hendes kunst kan findes i private og offentlige samlinger over hele verden, herunder i The Harvard Business School Collection og The Brandes Family Art Collection, og hun har deltaget i interviews og publikationer på bl.a. CBC/Radio Canada, i Frieze Magazine, og i Newsweek Magazine.

Udstillingen åbnes med en fernisering d. 21. august 2026 kl. 16-19, hvor kunstneren vil være til stede. Udstillingen løber fra d. 21. august 21 til d. 18 september, 2026. For yderligere information og henvendelser vedr. salg, kontakt galleriet på: hello@christofferegelund.dk eller på +45 33 93 92 00. Besøg os i Bredgade 75, 1260 København K. Åbningstider: Onsdag-fredag 15-18, lørdag 12-16, eller efter aftale.