Tenant of Culture is the artistic practice of Hendrickje Schimmel (b. 1990, Arnhem) who lives and works in London. Schimmel works in the space between sculpture and couture; her objects are assembled with the flying tempo of fashion production, but these garments are clearly not factory made. The hand is visible inside every cut, stitch and rip. The work has been gripped and jammed into itself.

Schimmel’s objects range from near-functional clothing to collaged tapestries of ragged fabric. The garments are provocations, pointing towards radical futures, obscure historical movements and the strobing micro-trends of the current moment. The footwear is abstract; the hats are speculative and the tops dystopian. It’s all patched together from upcycled scraps, and when I imagine the culture that might grow up around these outfits, I am impressed by its vision and concerned for its quality of life.

Schimmel completed a BA in Womenswear at Hogeschool voor de Kunsten, Zwolle (2012) and received an MA in Mixed Media from the Royal College of Art (2016). 

Solo and duo exhibitions include ‘IN SITU’, Museum of Contemporary Art, Antwerp (2023); ‘Ladder’, Soft Opening, London (2023); ‘Soft Acid’, Camden Art Centre, London (2022); ‘Piece(d) Work)’ (Gillian Lowndes), Ivory Tars, Glasgow (2022); ‘Et Al.’, Kunstverein Dresden, Dresden (2021); ‘Autumn Cloth’, Sophie Tappeiner, Vienna (2021); ‘Georgics (how to style a chore coat)’, Fons Welters, Amsterdam (2020); ‘I forgot to tell you I’ve changed’, Het Fries Museum, Leeuwarden (2020); ‘Eclogues (an apology for actors)’, Nicoletti Contemporary, London (2019); ‘Works and Days’, Outpost Gallery, Norwich (2018); ‘Deadstock’, Sarabande Foundation, London (2018); ‘Climate | Change’, Clearview, London (2017); ‘The Latest Thing’, CODE ROOD Koningsweg, Arnhem (2016). 

Her works have been featured in group exhibitions at Somerset House, London (2022); Goldsmiths CCA, London (2022); National Gallery Prague, Prague (2022); Huset fur Kunst & Design, Copenhagen (2021); V.O Curations, London (2021); Museum Marta Herford, Herford (2021); Galeria Stereo, Warsaw (2021); Fons Welters, Amsterdam (2021); Exile Gallery, Vienna (2020); Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem (2020); Future Gallery, Berlin (2020); Etage Projects, Copenhagen (2020); Project Native Informant, London (2019); Soft Opening, London (2019); Camden Art Centre, London (2018); Centraal Museum, Utrecht (2017); Institute of Contemporary Art, London (2016); MoBA Biennial, Arnhem, (2013). 

Their work is held in the collections of the Fries Museum, Leeuwarden; the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam and The Pier Arts Centre, Orkney. In 2020 Soft Opening published the artist’s first monograph in collaboration with Charles Asprey which was one of the winners of the Swiss Most Beautiful Books Award.

Tenant of Culture is represented by Soft Opening.