Francis Upritchard’s exhibition Any Noise Annoys an Oyster is now open at Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen, through Saturday 15 February 2025. Presenting more than 100 works, Any Noise Annoys an Oyster is Francis Upritchard’s first solo exhibition in Scandinavia. 

Upritchard works in a field where visual art and craft intersect. Her art takes on many different formats, ranging from large-scale figurative sculptures to ceramics, blown glass vases, jewellery and diminutive beings. Her references include ancient art, Asian folklore, 20th century European sculpture and science fiction literature as she investigates how the past is perceived today and what the future might look like. Among the exhibited works are sculptures embodying mythical and fantastic figures such as the centaur, the dinosaur and the mermaid, made in bronze as well as balata, a natural rubber from Brazil.

In Any Noise Annoys an Oyster, experience Upritchard unfold a world of mermaids, mythical creatures and eccentric figures. This comprehensive exhibition creates a space somewhere between ideas of our past and visions for a future.

At Kunsthal Charlottenborg, these beings are accompanied by a large collection of the artist’s miniature sculptures and a group of eccentric figures dressed in colourful clothes. As an ensemble Upritchard’s works escape established norms and create a kaleidoscopic narrative, which offers the opportunity to contemplate different facets of the human condition.

Throughout her career, Upritchard has gained international recognition for her striking and original visual language. She has participated in a large number of exhibitions around the world and has represented her home country at the Venice Biennale, collaborated with renowned British fashion duo Peter Pilotto, and in 2022 she created an epic, permanent outdoor sculptural work for the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney.

Any Noise Annoys an Oyster is curated by Henriette Bretton-Meyer.

The exhibition is supported by the Aage and Johanne Louis-Hansen’s Foundation, the Augustinus Foundation, the Danish Art Foundation, the Knud Højgaard’s Foundation, the Obel Family Foundation, the William Demant Foundation.