About

Lawrence Weiner, THINGS PUSHED DOWN TO THE BOTTOM AND BROUGHT UP AGAIN, 1996, Exhibition view: Thinking Ahead at Erna Hecey, 24.10.2018-30.01.2019, Photo © Christian Aschman
Erna Hecey founded her gallery in Luxembourg in 1996. It has proved to be a dynamic force on the Luxembourg scene, organizing numerous exhibitions and events over a ten-year period, with a special focus on collaborative projects. First exhibitions included Andres Serrano, Nan Goldin, Sophie Calle, Uri Tzaig, John Armleder, Peter Friedl, Doris Drescher, Nedko Solakov, Jana Sterbak, Thomas Hirschhorn, Bert Theis, Marcel Broodthaers and Lawrence Weiner.

Erna Hecey, photo © Suzanne Lafont, 22 juin 2022
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In 2005, Erna Hecey moved her gallery to Brussels into a large industrial space in the city centre. When running her space in Brussels, Erna Hecey focused on artists who engaged with the space's architecture and the larger context of an art gallery situated in Europe's capital. Artists such as Eleanor Antin, Lili Dujourie, Jef Geys, Peter Friedl, Johan Grimonprez, Suzanne Lafont, Bert Theis or Rainer Oldendorf and Olaf Nicolai created memorable installations that questioned the assumed political, historical and aesthetic neutrality of the white cube.

Eleanor Antin, Classical Frieze, Exhibition view, 22 November 2009 – 31 January 2010,
Erna Hecey, Brussels, Photo © Kristien Daem
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In the gallery's large project space Hecey proposed a parallel exhibitions and projects program to think outside of the traditional exhibition format, highlighting particular artworks and historical works such as as Eleanor Antin's Hundred Boots 1971-73 or Laurie Simmons's In and Around The House, 1976-78, or exhibitions in sequences, such as Jef Geys' unique one year Retrospective installed in 6 consecutive rooms. The space was also used for a a series of curated group exhibitions, such as Market Forces, Cult of Personality, Location Shots, or Drawings, among others.

Daniel Buren, Peinture aux formes variables, T II 300, 1966, Exhibition view,
Location Shots, Group exhibition, 17 February - 1 April 2006,

Erna Hecey Gallery, Brussels
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Eleanor Antin, 100 Boots, 1971-73/2005, Exhibition view,
7 April - 6 May 2006, Erna Hecey Gallery, Brussels
In 2007, Erna Hecey founded a project and consulting agency in Luxembourg for designing and managing exhibitions and cultural events, and for acting as an artistic advisor for large-scale site specific and architecture-related projects. Hecey curated Sophie Calle's Exquisite Pain for Luxembourg's 2007 European Cultural Capital which was set in a special installation designed by Frank Gehry at Rotunda 1, a 19th Century industrial building originally used for the maintenance of locomotives in Bonnevoie, Luxembourg, it was later transformed into an exciting youth culture venue.

Sophie Calle, Douleur exquise, Exhibition view, Scenography Frank Gehry & Edwin Chan,

Curated by Erna Hecey for Luxembourg European Capital of Culture,
22 June - 30 September 2007, Rotunda 1, Luxembourg
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In 2012, Erna Hecey relocated to Luxembourg. There she developed a new peripatetic gallery model focusing on collaborative projects that were particularly well suited to the artists she works with, since their practices emphasize the spatial, temporal and political-economic situation of art. This transitional and mobile gallery allowed her to adapt each time to the particular site where the work of art appears, be it a museum, a biennial or, an art fair.

Peter Friedl, Documents, Exhibition view, 30 November - 2 February 2008,
Erna Hecey Gallery, Brussels, Photo © Philippe De Gobert
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In 2018 Erna Hecey transformed her apartment in Luxembourg into a place dedicated to art. It has since revealed a fascinating process of transformation of a place for living into a place for art. It is not a large space but it is singular, precise, at the same time unified and sufficiently composite to offer very various installation possibilities. As a private space, it can be an environment for diverse experiences and experimentation at the crossroads of the gallery's history, 1996 - 2013, and house a whole constellation of artistic forms which also contain a biographical content.

Roee Rosen, The Buried Alive Cycle, Exhibition view, 8 June - 15 August 2019,
Erna Hecey Gallery, Luxembourg, Photo © Florian Kleinefenn
The new programming is accompanied by a series of small publications in collaboration with Jean-François Chevrier and Elia Pijollet, and with authors engaged with the artists of the gallery.

Eugénie Paultre, Des liens plus que terrestres, Exhibition view, 28 February - 10 September 2020,
Erna Hecey Gallery, Luxembourg © Eric Chenal
The first exhibition in the new Luxembourg gallery, Thinking Ahead, was presented in three parts between 28 October 2018 and 31 January 2019. It included works by Eleanor Antin, Marcel Broodthaers, Rafal Bujnowski, Lili Dujourie, Roza El Hassan, Peter Friedl, Jef Geys, Gauri Gill, Dan Graham, Edi Hila, Ana Jotta, Suzanne Lafont, Rainer Oldendorf, Martha Rosler, Roee Rosen, Nedko Solakov, Bert Theis, Caecilia Tripp, Little Warsaw, Jeff Weber, and Lawrence Weiner, highlighting works by artists who have been working with the gallery since its early years, as well as emerging new positions such as Jeff Weber, Eugénie Paultre and Caecilia Tripp.

Eugénie Paultre, Safe and Sound 2019, Ink and oil on canvas,
Courtesy of the artist and Erna Hecey Gallery
Since 1997, Erna Hecey Gallery has participated in major artfairs around the world: ArtBasel, (Special Projects for Art Basel Unlimited) FIAC, Paris, ArtBrussels, Brussels, ArtForum / ArtBerlin, Berlin, ARCO, Madrid, ArtDealers, Marseille, SHContemporary, Shanghai, ParisPhoto, Paris and the Armory Show, New York.

Jeff Weber, Mimetic Assimilation, Exhibition view, 27 September - 16 November 2019,
Erna Hecey Gallery, Luxembourg, Photo © Jeff Weber
Jeff Weber, Untitled (Neural Networks) (nn1_3d/3), 2019, Photogram on gelatin silver print, Courtesy of the artist and Erna Hecey Gallery
Eugénie Paultre, Dying for Limits X, 2018, ink, pigment and oil on canvas, 240x210 cm, Donation Marc et Diane Gubbini Luxembourg

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ERNA HECEY

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