Henrik Godsk: The Lake

The Lake is Henrik Godsk’s third solo exhibition with Vigo Gallery. The title of the exhibition refers to a specific lake located in a large forest in the north of Denmark, very close to Henrik Godsk’s home and studio. A century ago, eight of the largest traveller families in Denmark lived around the lake, side by side in their wagons. For the travellers, the lake served as a temporary sanctuary where they could stay between touring with their funfairs and circuses. The Hertzberg family, to which Henrik Godsk belongs, had their spot near the top of the lake. Henrik Godsk’s great-great-grandfather planted fruit trees when they first moved there, and they remain to this day. The area of the forest where the lake is situated is known as “The Lake Bog,” or “Sømosen” in Danish.

Henrik Godsk, a seventh-generation traveller, grew up in his family’s travelling fair. He began painting at the age of seven as an apprentice under his grandfather and father, restoring fairground facades. The visual language of the fair and his cultural heritage continue to influence his work today. In this new series, he places his well-known figures in natural and interior settings with windows overlooking lakes and vegetation. All the works are inspired by his family history and the lake where the Hertzberg family and other travellers once lived. He frequently visits the lake for hikes and appreciates the solitude and tranquillity found there.

 “In the mid-1840s, the transcendental writer and thinker Henry David Thoreau chose to live by a lake in a forest to seek meaning in the tranquillity of nature. He discovered his ‘Walden’, a sanctuary for self-reflection. Around the same time, travellers in Denmark found meaning by a lake in a forest far to the north.... our Walden” - HG 2026

About Henrik Godsk

Henrik Godsk (b.1975) lives and works in Denmark. He holds an MA in art and literature from Aalborg University, is a member of the Danish Association of Visual Artists and has received support from the Danish Arts Foundation. His work is represented in several prominent public and private collections, including the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum, Madrid and The Bunker, (col Beth de Woody) West Palm Beach.  He was recently the subject of 5 part documentary tracking his international acivities last year by Tor Kjarval Løkken, for TV2-Play. 

Selected solo exhibitions include Traveller’s Cathedral, Ruttkowski;68 (2025), Grace, Aishonanzuka, Tokyo (2024), Traveller’s Journal, Vigo Gallery, London (2024), Humans & Creatures, Vigo Gallery at Wellington Arch, London (2023), Archetypes, Ruttkowski;68, Paris (2023), No Piano, CFHILL, Stockholm (2022), Fade to Red, PIERMARQ*, Sydney (2022), and Traveller, Ruttkowski;68, Cologne (2021).

Selected group exhibitions include Portraits, Kunstbygningen I Vraa, Engelundsamlingen – Museum of Modern Art, Vraa (2022); The Breakfast Club, Eligere Gallerey, Seoul (2022), Mixed Pickles 9, Ruttkowski;68 at Goldberg Studios, Munich (2021), This Must Be the Place, Villa Schönningen, Potsdam, Berlin (2021); Abstraction and Figuration, Kunstbygningen I Vraa, Engelundsamlingen - Museum of Modern Art, Vraa (2020); Hybrids, CFHILL, Stockholm (2019); Contemporary Portraits, Frederikshavn Museum of Modern Art, Frederikshavn (2019); Earth, SADE Gallery, Los Angeles (2019); Henrik Godsk & Jordy Kerwick, Galerie Wolfsen, Aalborg (2018); Trans-figuration, Himmerland Art Museum (The Per Kirkeby Space), Aars (2017); and Trans-figuration, Mark Rothko Art Centre, Daugavpils (2017).