Multidisciplinary artist Kris Lemsalu’s practice is a continual evolution of ideas, forms, anecdotes and personal histories, expressed through sculpture and performance, in which the division between life and art is blurred. She creates complex sculptures, installations, and performances that fuse the animal kingdom with humankind, nature with the artificial, beauty with repulsion, lightness with gravity, life with death. She revives traditional techniques and methods to combine animal bodies and porcelain objects with found materials such as furs, leather, seashells, wool, or paper in theatrical installations that whisk us off into a world of the fantastic imagination.
Kris Lemsalu (b.1985 in Tallinn, Estonia) lives and works in Tallinn and New York. She studied at the Estonian Academy of Arts, Tallinn, Estonia; Danmarks Designskole, Copenhagen, Denmark; and the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna, Austria. Lemsalu represented Estonia in the 58th Venice Biennial in 2019. In 2020 she was awarded the Grand Prize from the Cultural Endowment of Estonia. Recent solo and two-person exhibitions include: Temnikova & Kasela, Tallinn, Estonia (2022, 2025); Belvedere 21, Museum of Contemporary Art, Vienna, Austria (2024); Margot Samel, New York, NY (2022, 2024); Magazin 4 – Bregenzer Kunstverein, Bregenz, Austria (2024); Tartu Art Museum, Tartu, Estonia (2024); Pangée, Montreal, Canada (2024); Wolford House, Los Angeles, CA (2024); Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden (2024); Schindler House, Los Angeles, CA (2024); Proyectos Multipropósito, Mexico City, Mexico (2024); Kunstplatz Graben, Vienna, Austria (2023); Kendall Koppe, Glasgow, UK (2023); Meyer Kainer, Vienna, Austria (2022); High Line Art, New York, NY (2021); Hunt Kastner, Prague, Czech Republic (2021); Den Frie, Copenhagen, Denmark (2020); KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin, Germany (2020); Kai Art Center, Tallinn, Estonia (2020); Secession, Vienna, Austria (2018); Goldsmiths Centre for Contemporary Art, London, UK (2018); and Koppe Astner, Glasgow, UK (2017–18). Selected group exhibitions include: Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris, Paris, France (2026); Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery, London, UK (2023); MAK Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna, Austria (2022); Zuzeum Art Centre, Riga, Latvia (2022); Tallinn Art Hall, Tallinn, Estonia (2022); Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Zurich, Switzerland (2022); MeetFactory, Prague, Czech Republic (2022); 7th Athens Biennale, Athens, Greece (2021); Stiftung für Kunst und Kultur, Bonn, Germany (2021); Princessehof National Museum of Ceramics, Leeuwarden, Netherlands (2020); Muzeum Susch, Zürich, Switzerland (2019); Fondation Cartier, Paris, France (2019); Kiasma, Helsinki, Finland (2018); Tanya Leighton, Berlin, Germany (2018); and KAI 10 / Arthena Foundation, Düsseldorf, Germany. Lemsalu’s works are in the permanent collections of major institutions, including Centre Pompidou, Paris, France; Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, Helsinki, Finland; The Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, Poland; KAI 10 Arthena Foundation, Düsseldorf, Germany; Tartu Art Museum, Tartu, Estonia; The Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zurich, Switzerland; and Zuzeum Art Center, Riga, Latvia.
