Exhibition: Janne Klerk – Reflections at the foot of the sky

The photographs in the exhibition are all depictions of the water’s surface in the same nature-protected forest lake in Denmark, which the artist and photographer Janne Klerk patiently studied between 2016 and 2021. The lake measures just 100 metres in diameter and takes five minutes to walk around. Yet the lake’s modest size bears no direct relation to the rich visual universe that unfolds on the water’s surface.

The water’s surface encompasses all manner of states, ranging from the tranquillity and peace of stillness to drama, turbulence and chaos. Several of the images were photographed directly down into the water’s surface and therefore have no coordinates indicating where we are. The images depict both heights and depths, upright and inverted simultaneously.

Occasionally, the image is blurred for a moment by a light breeze or a pine cone falling from a tree, but shortly afterwards the reflection becomes clear again. The water’s surface holds great complexity – wondrous, alluring, unsettling, yet also liberating. On stormy, windswept days, ripples and waves form on the water’s surface, so that everything beneath the water’s surface disappears, or distorted images are created.

Reflections between people, nature and the universe

In all seasons and in all weathers, the lake’s reflections and depths conjure up a diversity that parallels the myriad ways in which we humans reflect ourselves in one another and our surroundings.

“Whilst taking photographs, I have experienced the reflections in the forest lake as a metaphor for the reflections that constantly take place between people and our surroundings. A living interplay in perpetual motion, unpredictable and complex – just like the water’s surface,” explains Janne Klerk.

Many hours spent photographing the water’s surface also raise a whole host of questions. About the refraction of light in water, about the ecosystem, the universe, the sun, the atmosphere, and about reflections between people. As part of the creative process, Janne Klerk has therefore collaborated with astrophysicist Anja C. Andersen and writer Gitte Broeng, both of whom contribute to the project with texts on both measurable and non-measurable statements and perspectives on the fascinating concept of ‘reflections’.

Versions of the exhibition have previously been shown at the Round Tower and the Johannes Larsen Museum, but this is the first time the exhibition has been presented in this form in Jutland.

Exhibition dates:

22 August – 27 September 2026.

Opening reception:

Opening reception on 22 August, 2.00–4.00 pm.

Opening hours:

• Mon: Closed
• Tue–Sun: 1.00 pm – 5.00 pm