The new AUTO
On an early Monday morning, the day before the printing of the new HÅNDVÆRK bookazine no. 15 in Aarhus, I stopped by the fairly new gallery AUTO, also in Aarhus. AUTO was closed for the day, but I had an appointment. Most of the family was present, each one engaged in their individual projects.
September 2026
The youngest member of the family was napping in a pram. Big sister was painting signs for a pop-up natural-wine bar during the upcoming Aarhus Festival; dad, Frank Langhøj, was working on an old Citroën in the workshop, which is both an auto repair shop and a joiner’s workshop; and mum, the ceramic artist Anne Damsgaard Langhøj, greeted me in the door to the gallery’s coffee bar.
She had invited me to visit. She trained as a ceramicist at the Aarhus Academy of Fine Arts, and for the past few years, she has presented curated exhibitions of ceramic art on varying locations, under the name Fænomen Gallery. The gallery’s main customer base has been collectors, she explains.
With AUTO, she now has a permanent base and is ready to share the selected masterpieces with a wider audience. She plans to show four exhibitions a year and already has a schedule in place for the coming years. Let me tell you, there’s something to look forward to!
One annual exhibition is reserved for a young craft maker – I will get back to that in a later article. The other artists all have extensive experience.
As suggested by the name, the gallery was until recently an auto repair shop.
The rooms have been tidied and cleaned up, and there have probably been a few repairs, but they still appear raw and honest, providing the perfect backdrop for the artworks on display. Tables and benches by Friis & Moltke, put back into production by Onecollection, add class to the space and make it convincing.
The current exhibition of ceramics by Kim Holm is titled Cylinders & other Cylinder Heads, in a cheeky reference to AUTO.
He attended the Aarhus Academy of Fine Arts from 1968, graduating in 1972, and taught at the academy from 1977 to 2016.
Throughout his career as an artist, he has continually challenged the wheel-thrown cylinder, with exteriors featuring subtle reliefs and, above alle, fascinating, often layered glazes. Kim Holm’s ceramics are timeless, in the best sense of the word. They are contemporary but could just as easily ell have been made during the Golden Age of Danish design – or tomorrow. Their place of origin is Jutland, but they might just as well have been Japanese.
Judging by the red stickers on the shelves, the cylinders resonate with the audience.
The address is Banegårdsgade 9, a stone’s throw from Aarhus Central Station, so there’s no excuse to miss this, even if you don’t live nearby.
AUTO / Fænomen Gallery
Thursday 13.00–17.00
Friday 13–17
Saturday 11–14
The exhibition runs until 7 October.
Bonus ÅRHUS tip:
On 3 September, the Danish Crafts & Design Association in Central Jutland opened a new artist-run exhibition venue at Institut for (X) in Aarhus.
The small venue is a former site-hut. When I stopped by, two days before the opening, Christine Urfe Bendt, whom you can meet here, was dealing with the last practical tasks before Associate Professor and curator Ingrid Halland, who put together and designed the first exhibition, took over the space.
The exhibition, a cabinet of curiosities with contributions from the association’s members, will develop, change and gradually expand until the final day, on 20 December.
Det meste af familien var på plads og i gang med hver sit, da jeg tidligt mandag morgen, dagen inden trykstart på HÅNDVÆRK bookazine no. 15 lagde vejen forbi det relativt nye AUTO i Aarhus.
AUTO / Fænomen Gallery
Torsdag 13-17
Fredag 13-17
Lørdag 11-14
Yngste medlem sov i sin barnevogn, mellemgenerationen var i gang med at male skilte til en forestående Aarhus Festuge-pop-up-naturvinbar, far Frank Langhøj arbejdede på en gammel Citroën på værkstedet, som både er mekaniker- og snedkerværksted, og mor, keramiker Anne Damsgaard Langhøj, tog imod i døren til galleriets kaffebar.
Det var hende, som havde inviteret. Hun er uddannet keramiker fra Aarhus Kunstakademis keramiske linje og har gennem nogle år, på forskellige adresser, kurateret og udstillet keramisk kunst under navnet Fænomen Gallery. Her har kunderne fortrinsvis været samlere, fortæller hun.
Med AUTO har hun fået fast grund under fødderne og er klar til at dele mesterværkerne med en bredere skare. Ambitionen er fire udstillinger om året, og programmet er allerede lagt for de kommende år. Det lover godt, kan jeg afsløre.
En udstilling hvert år er reserveret til en ung kunsthåndværker. Det vender jeg tilbage til i en senere artikel. De resterende udstillere har lang erfaring under bæltet.
AUTO var, som det fremgår af navnet, indtil for nylig et mekanikerværksted.
Lokalerne er rengjorte, og der er sikkert fikset både det ene og det andet, men de fremstår stadig rå og ærlige og som perfekt baggrund de udstillede værker. Bord og bænke fra Friis & Moltke, som igen er sat i produktion hos Onecollection, tilfører klasse og gør rummet overbevisende.
Den aktuelle udstilling ( til 7. oktober) med Kim Holm bærer med glimt i øjet titlen Cylindre og andre Topstykker, en reference til AUTO-navnet.
Han er uddannet fra Aarhus Kunstakademi (1968-72) og underviste samme sted fra 1977 til 2016.
Gennem hele sit kunstnerskab har han igen og igen udfordret den drejede cylinder, hvis overflade han bearbejder med subtile relieffer og frem for alt med interessante glasurer, ofte lag på lag. Kim Holms keramik er i ordets bedste betydning tidløs. Den er fremstillet nu, men kunne lige så godt være fra dansk designs guldalder eller fra i morgen. Den er jysk, men kunne lige så vel være japansk.
At dømme efter de røde prikker på hylderne har både cylindre og andre topstykker resonans hos publikum.
Adressen er Banegårdsgade 9, et stenkast fra Aarhus Banegård. Der er altså ingen undskyldninger for at springe over, selv hvis du ikke bor i nærheden.
Bonus ÅRHUS-tips:
Danske Kunsthåndværkere & Designere i Midtjylland åbnede den 3. september et nyt kunstnerdrevet udstillingssted på Institut for (X) i Aarhus.
Det lille udstillingssted er indrettet i en tidligere mandskabsvogn. Da jeg var forbi to dage inden åbningen, var Christine Urfe Bendt, som du kan møde her, i gang med de sidste praktiske opgaver, inden kurator og lektor Ingrid Halland, der står for kuratering og iscenesættelse af den første udstilling, overtog rummet.
Udstillingen, et kuriositetskabinet med bidrag fra foreningens medlemmer, vil udvikle sig, forandre sig og løbende blive udvidet frem til afslutningen den 20. december.
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