Pioneer Ann Lislegaard presented at Henie Onstad

“We are proud to present Ann Lislegaard, in continuation of Henie Onstad’s tradition of showcasing cutting-edge contemporary and sound art. Lislegaard was an early adopter of new technology, and her practice is exploratory in both form and content. For the first time, we will show the work Oracles, Owls… some animals never sleep, which became part of our collection in 2023.” says Anne Hilde Neset, Director of Henie Onstad Kunstsenter.

The exhibition title ANIMOID is taken from Philip K. Dick’s science fiction novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968). The novel describes a world in which animals have been eradicated and replaced by synthetic “animoids”, lifelike robots that fill an emotional void. Inspired by a longstanding interest in science fiction, Lislegaard creates immersive works that explore gender, future scenarios and communication between species, in which the relationship between human, animal and machine is put into play.

“Ann Lislegaard was early in using science fiction as a critical tool to imagine alternative worlds and social structures, long before this approach gained wider traction in contemporary art. She has consistently explored ecological crisis, technology and possible future life forms at times when few others addressed these questions with the same artistic precision,” says Susanne Østby Sæther, curator of the exhibition and Senior Curator for Photography and New Media at Henie Onstad. 

The works in the exhibition range from 16mm film, sculpture, drawing, sound works and neon to 3D animations on monumental LED screens. In the Prisma galleries, visitors encounter animations of cyborgs and hybrid animal figures as messengers from other futures, sounds of endangered bird species, drawings made by the artist under hypnosis, and sounds from distant galaxies.

ANIMOID invites us into virtual and speculative universes that pose fundamental questions about our present: What does it mean to be human at a historical moment marked by digital transformation and extensive loss of biological diversity?

Ann Lislegaard was born and raised in Norway. She lived and worked in New York for many decades and is now based in Copenhagen. 

The exhibition is organised by Henie Onstad Kunstsenter and developed in collaboration with ARKEN Museum of Modern Art (Denmark), Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg (Germany) and Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma (Finland) where the exhibition will subsequently travel.

The exhibition is supported by the New Carlsberg Foundation, Arts and Culture Norway (Kulturdirektoratet) and Fondet for dansk-norsk samarbeid. 

Summary 

Exhibition title: Ann Lislegaard: ANIMOID 

Exhibition dates: 9 January – 19 April 2026 

Artist: Ann Lislegaard 

Curator: Susanne Østby Sæther 

Programme: The exhibition will be accompanied by a public programme, which will be published on hok.no

Press view: Wednesday 7 January at 10:00. Registration: tm@hok.no

Venue: Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Sonja Henies vei 31, 1311 Høvikodden 

Opening hours: Tuesday–Sunday 11:00–17:00, Thursday 11:00–20:00, closed Mondays. 

Website: https://hok.no