Henriette GRAHNERT | The Crack in the Bowl

In The Crack in the Bowl, the painter Henriette Grahnert leans into the genre of still life. Her signature style of abstraction allows her to construct a perceptual plane of magical realism, where each painting is equally otherworldly and deeply relatable.

Though still lifes are characterised by assemblages of inanimate objects, the underlying narrative is profoundly human. It is the active absence of the human figure that highlights a powerful presence: that of a person, their history, and their agency. This is evident both in the intentionality of the assemblage and in the nature of the domestic objects themselves. Furthermore, through abstraction, Grahnert’s works activate deeply embedded perceptual mechanisms of anthropomorphisation (humanization). As a result, even minor cues such as tilt, asymmetry, or spatial tension cause objects to appear sentient or emotionally expressive. Once an object crosses a threshold of recognisability, it can function as a proxy for emotional states and psychological narratives. This mechanism is even more apparent in the few portraits on view in this exhibition.

Alongside Grahnert’s paintings, the exhibition also showcases a number of her collages. This medium embodies a tension between the immediacy of the creative impulse and the slow process of material accumulation that precedes it. These pieces offer a more intimate view into the artist’s process—the ongoing bouncing of thoughts and shapes until the elusive, intuitive decision to pin them in place. For Grahnert, the process of collage also functions as a form of visual exploration, bringing contrasting strokes and textures into her paintings. The finishing touch is the title of each piece, which, rather than describing the image, expands the field of interpretation.

The titular Crack in the Bowl suggests an inciting incident, while the multitude of tables and chairs featured in the motifs suggests a scenographic mise-en-scène. Thus, an overarching narrative tension emerges, one that may only be resolved by spending sufficient time with the exhibited works. The Crack in the Bowl invites the viewer to open themselves to playful interpretative impulses and to enjoy the unfolding of the story.