Arken Museum of Modern Art
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ARKEN Museum of Modern Art ( da, ARKEN Museum for Moderne Kunst) is a private non-for-profit charity, state authorised, contemporary
art museum An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the display of art, usually from the museum's own Collection (artwork), collection. It might be in public or private ownership and may be accessible to all or have restrictions in place. A ...
in
Ishøj Ishøj is a Danish town with a population of 20,017 (1 January 2015).Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
, the
capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...
of
Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...
. The museum is amongst Denmark's major contemporary and modern art ventures, encompassing significant international cultural works and exhibitions. Arken is located in the suburb-city Ishøj, close to
Køge Køge (, older spelling ''Kjøge'') is a seaport on the coast of Køge Bugt (''Bay of Køge'') 39 km southwest of Copenhagen. It is the principal town and seat of Køge Municipality, Region Sjælland, Denmark. In 2022, the urban area had a p ...
(''Køge bugt)'', twenty kilometres south of Copenhagen, Denmark. Arken museum was designed by 25-year old
architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
student Søren Robert Lund in a distinct architectural form and was authorised by
Copenhagen County Københavns Amt () is a former county (Danish, ''Amt (subnational entity), amt'') on the island of Zealand (Denmark), Zealand (''Sjælland'') in eastern Denmark. It covered the municipalities in the metropolitan Copenhagen area, with the excepti ...
. It was inaugurated on 15 March 1996 and was conceived by Queen Margrethe; her majesty of Denmark. Arken Museum of Modern Art's collection offers major works of over 400 Danish, Scandinavian and International post- war art, including renowned creations by
Damien Hirst Damien Steven Hirst (; né Brennan; born 7 June 1965) is an English artist, entrepreneur, and art collector. He is one of the Young British Artists (YBAs) who dominated the art scene in the UK during the 1990s. He is reportedly the United Kingd ...
,
Olafur Eliasson Olafur Eliasson ( is, Ólafur Elíasson; born 5 February 1967) is an Icelandic–Danish artist known for sculptured and large-scale installation art employing elemental materials such as light, water, and air temperature to enhance the viewer's ...
, Anselm Reyle
Shirin Neshat Shirin Neshat ( fa, شیرین نشاط; born March 26, 1957 in Qazvin) is an Iranian visual artist who lives in New York City, known primarily for her work in film, video and photography. Her artwork centers on the contrasts between Islam and th ...
,
Wolfgang Tillmans Wolfgang Tillmans (born 16 August 1968) is a German photographer. His diverse body of work is distinguished by observation of his surroundings and an ongoing investigation of the photographic medium’s foundations. Tillmans was the first photog ...
, Danish / Norwegian duo Ingar Dragset and Michael Elmgreen and many more. Arken, due to its synthesis of contemporary art, maritime architecture and landscape, is also acknowledged as a milestone in Danish Architecture. The museum showcases an overview of contemporary and modern art, presenting cultural and research-based exhibitions, architecture and design, sculptural artefacts, paintings, prints, site installations and mixed-media displays.


History, context and influences

Arken (Danish for ‘the Ark’), created and publicised in 1996, as an idiosyncratic and distinct architectural form, featuring an amassed assemble of international works. The history of Arken Museum of Modern Art has been embarked back to the museum's foundation of formulating a unit of international proportions and an active dynamic space. The museum re-opened in January 2008 after major refurbishing, which included an expansion providing an additional 50% of gallery-space.


Before Arken: 1988-1992

In the 20th century, there was a global growth of contemporary art museums, significantly the Museum of Modern Art was opened in 1988. Collectively, this influenced a rise and a prominent increase in cultural institutions to showcase both local and international art. It has played a major role in the development and collection of contemporary art. In 1988, an architectural competition for the creation of a new contemporary art museum in southwest of Copenhagen took place. This resulted in 25-year-old student architect, Søren Robert Lund effectively winning first-prize of the competition and awarded the commission of its design which was finalised in 1992. The title "Arken" was also chosen from the open architectural competition. The initial idea was for Arken to be located on the beach as a characteristic maritime architectural form to reflect its Danish title. Due to conservation reasons, the museum was built back behind low sand dunes and between a lagoon.


1996-1999

Prior to the museum's inauguration, there were several years of significant social, cultural and political changes within Denmark, in the late 20th Century. In the 1960s, the municipalities south of Copenhagen showcased a rapid growth in residents, particularly immigrants of Kurdish, Turkish and Pakistani nationalities. A trend that further strengthened the area's multicultural development was the migration of inner-city residents to the districts south of Copenhagen. This gave rise to an influx of multicultural regions in Denmark, in turn, fusing local and international art. The chairman of the museum was
Svend Jakobsen Svend Jakobsen (1935–2022) was a Danish politician who held different cabinet posts between 1973 and 1981. He was the speaker of the Danish Parliament or Folketing from 1981 to 1989. Biography Jakobsen was born in Vendsyssel on 1 November 193 ...
between 1997 and 2007.


21st Century

Arken, as a cultural institution in transition, undertook two major renovation and expansion designed by original architect Søren Robert Lund alongside C.F. Møller Architects. The museum encompassed permanent collections and donations of works from 2005-2008 by
Damien Hirst Damien Steven Hirst (; né Brennan; born 7 June 1965) is an English artist, entrepreneur, and art collector. He is one of the Young British Artists (YBAs) who dominated the art scene in the UK during the 1990s. He is reportedly the United Kingd ...
,
Marc Quinn Marc Quinn (born 8 January 1964) is a British contemporary visual artist whose work includes sculpture, installation, and painting. Quinn explores "what it is to be human in the world today" through subjects including the body, genetics, ident ...
,
Mona Hatoum Mona Hatoum ( ar, منى حاطوم; born 1952) is a British-Palestinian multimedia and installation artist who lives in London. Biography Mona Hatoum was born in 1952 in Beirut, Lebanon, to Palestinian parents. Although born in Lebanon, Hatoum ...
,
Jeppe Hein Jeppe Hein (born 1974, Copenhagen, Denmark) is an artist based in Berlin and Copenhagen.Jeff Koons Jeffrey Lynn Koons (; born January 21, 1955) is an American artist recognized for his work dealing with popular culture and his sculptures depicting everyday objects, including balloon animals produced in stainless steel with mirror- finish su ...
and
Elmgreen & Dragset Michael Elmgreen (born 1961; Copenhagen, Denmark) and Ingar Dragset (born 1969; Trondheim, Norway) have worked together as an artist duo since 1995. Their work explores the relationship between art, architecture and design. Elmgreen & Dragset liv ...
ARKEN also published the Arken Bulletin which is a place of discussion amongst international academia on artistic theory and museology. Each year ARKEN awards the 'ARKENs kunstpris' prize of 100,000 Danish kroner to a contemporary artist.


Architecture

The museum is designed and built as a deconstructive, nautically- inspired architectural form. In a cultural institution, this style of architecture has come under public notice through Museum of Modern Art's 1988 ''Deconstructivist Architecture'' exhibition in New York, featuring notable works of  
Daniel Libeskind Daniel Libeskind (born May 12, 1946) is a Polish–American architect, artist, professor and set designer. Libeskind founded Studio Daniel Libeskind in 1989 with his wife, Nina, and is its principal design architect. He is known for the design a ...
,
Frank Gehry Frank Owen Gehry, , FAIA (; ; born ) is a Canadian-born American architect and designer. A number of his buildings, including his private residence in Santa Monica, California, have become world-renowned attractions. His works are considered ...
, and
Zaha Hadid Dame Zaha Mohammad Hadid ( ar, زها حديد ''Zahā Ḥadīd''; 31 October 1950 – 31 March 2016) was an Iraqi-British architect, artist and designer, recognised as a major figure in architecture of the late 20th and early 21st centu ...
. Deconstructivist architecture has been invigorated publicly by
Jacques Derrida Jacques Derrida (; ; born Jackie Élie Derrida; See also . 15 July 1930 – 9 October 2004) was an Algerian-born French philosopher. He developed the philosophy of deconstruction, which he utilized in numerous texts, and which was developed t ...
,
Peter Eisenman Peter Eisenman (born August 11, 1932) is an American architect. Considered one of the New York Five, Eisenman is known for his writing and speaking about architecture as well as his designs, which have been called high modernist or deconstructiv ...
and
Bernard Tschumi Bernard Tschumi (born 25 January 1944 in Lausanne, Switzerland) is an architect, writer, and educator, commonly associated with deconstructivism. Son of the well-known Swiss architect Jean Tschumi and a French mother, Tschumi is a dual French-S ...
. This wave of deconstruction in architectural form became prominent in Europe in the 1980s, a style Søren Robert Lundin used to design Arken. The museum reflects this movement and extension from the rational approach of modernism. Architectural deconstructivism requires an existence of an archetypal ''con''struction, a strong dialect of conventional presence to experiment flexibility against. Arken museum is conceived as a shipwreck architectural form, embodying spatial envelopes, altered geometric massing's and subversion, showcasing an effective act of deconstruction.   Deconstructivist architecture, with its inclination towards deformation and dislocation, bears angular forms and abstract geometries, as defined in Arken's exterior and interior space. The museum displays deconstructivism by "breaking down the epitomised idea of a building, exposing its inside to its outside, reconstructing a variety of spaces, and forcing different access points." Arken's formal plan incorporates assembled building parts, split and fragmented to create a fragmented ship form and a floor plan with slanted angles. Contrasting colours of grey to red walls, large open rooms to small rooms, and slanted building angles with curved galleries creates visible deconstruction. Arken models geometric imbalance and fragmentation to oppose modernism notions of "form follows function", "truth to material" and "purity of form."


Extensions

Since its inauguration in 1966, the museum has undergone architectural and spatial reformation, responding to contemporary agendas of social change. Arken's expansion and periodic transformation increased public accessibility space by 50% compared to its initial built space in 1996, making the space open to change and a "contemporary museological practice." The expansion enabled Arken to shift its approach from presenting its archives of paintings, design and artworks on paper towards a display of integrated large sculptural masses such as the ''UTOPIA Project.''


Extension 1: 2008-2009

The Museum reopened its doors publicly on 5 September 2009, following a renovation constructed by Arken's original architect Søren Robert Lund and design partner, CF Møller Architect. The refurbishment consisted of 3 sections: a new sculpture gallery and main entrance by Søren Robert Lund, and education and experience workshop areas designed by Anna Maria Indrio of CF Møller Architects. This extension significantly expanded Arken's new exhibit room to 1600m2, with the total area being 5000m2. The museum eradicated load-bearing walls or columns in all individual rooms, with the new exhibition hall structured as four white quadrants. Air conditioning structures were recessed into walls and security equipment was placed in floor boxed beneath steel plates, as C.F. Møller aimed to retain Arken's "existing facade’s rhythm and proportions." The ceilings were lowered, and a new white box design was introduced. The annexes designers were Anna Maria Indrio as part of C.F.Møllers Tegnestue. Annie and Otto Johs. Detlefs’ Foundation financially backed up the new 1100 m2 extension, both donating approximately $10 million. The Detlefs Hall designed for displaying sculptural works and additional extension of educational workshop rooms were incorporated and refurbished across the north side of the building. The redesigned entrance leads to a  new 600m2 large room, functioning as the core of the museum, and being a central point for all rooms and amenities.


Extension 2: 2016

The donation and financial investment for Arken's second extension was given by A.P.Møller and Hustru Chastine, McKinney Møller Foundation for General Purposes, enabling a water landscape. The excavation of extensive areas surrounding the gallery aimed to recognise the museum's characteristic maritime architecture and the surrounding landscape as an "Island of Art." The museum was moved to an island instead of the original plan of a beach-side placement due to environmental conservation factors that relate to the ecological balance and heritage. This extension provides maritime landscape of three road bridges, two pedestrian bridges, lagoons, native plantations and an architectural sculptural park. The refurbishment and extension were managed by Schul Landskabsarkitekter in conjunction with Møller and Grønborg, as a "transition from nature to culture." The two pedestrian bridges were formally reconstructed diagonally on the museum's main axis to create a transitional causeway from the maritime landscape to the gallery.


Collections

The Museum is a home to significant international cultural pieces and notable displays from a collective assemble of over 400 artists. The collection spans from
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
in 1945 to the present day, incorporating permanent caches by
Damien Hirst Damien Steven Hirst (; né Brennan; born 7 June 1965) is an English artist, entrepreneur, and art collector. He is one of the Young British Artists (YBAs) who dominated the art scene in the UK during the 1990s. He is reportedly the United Kingd ...
,
Olafur Eliasson Olafur Eliasson ( is, Ólafur Elíasson; born 5 February 1967) is an Icelandic–Danish artist known for sculptured and large-scale installation art employing elemental materials such as light, water, and air temperature to enhance the viewer's ...
,
Ai Wei Wei Ai Weiwei (, ; born 28 August 1957) is a Chinese contemporary artist, documentarian, and activist. Ai grew up in the far northwest of China, where he lived under harsh conditions due to his father's exile. As an activist, he has been openly cr ...
, Ingar Dragset and Michael Elmgreen and
Asger Jorn Asger Oluf Jorn (3 March 1914 – 1 May 1973) was a Danish painter, sculptor, ceramic artist, and author. He was a founding member of the avant-garde movement COBRA and the Situationist International. He was born in Vejrum, in the northwest c ...
. The Museum's collection incorporates two underpinning themes: (1) the human condition of modernistic man and (2) about art that questions the essential definition of art itself, via new media, mixed-materials and sculptural forms. Situated on the left of the entrance on Arken's forecourt is a sculpture of a child riding a rocking horse, labelled ''Powerless Structures'' by Ingar Dragset and Michael Elmgreen  . The equestrian statue aims to honour the heroism of humanism.
The image of a young boy astride his rocking horse encourages viewers to consider the less spectacular events in their lives, which are often the most important. The sculpture invokes life’s everyday activities and questions the tradition of monuments predicated on military victory or defeat.
Arken's archives hold a permanent display of British artist,
Damien Hirst Damien Steven Hirst (; né Brennan; born 7 June 1965) is an English artist, entrepreneur, and art collector. He is one of the Young British Artists (YBAs) who dominated the art scene in the UK during the 1990s. He is reportedly the United Kingd ...
. Notable displays include: ''Love’s Paradox,'' 2007, ''Beautiful Strummerville Spin,'' 2010 and ''2-Amino-5-Bromobenzotrifluoride,'' 2011 which measures 4.57 by 14.32 metres and is curated size-specific to fit in Arken. These donations were by Dennis and Jytte Merla Dresing of the Merla Foundation. The collection of
Damien Hirst Damien Steven Hirst (; né Brennan; born 7 June 1965) is an English artist, entrepreneur, and art collector. He is one of the Young British Artists (YBAs) who dominated the art scene in the UK during the 1990s. He is reportedly the United Kingd ...
works were assembled in a "Hirst Room", a gallery space dedicated to showcase his works. Other installations were a 2.5 metre bronzed statue entitled ''Saint Bartholomew,'' 2006 and a diamond entrusted skull titled, ''For the love of God.''
For the Love of God stretched all boundaries of art production as this human skull adorned with 8,601 diamonds cost £15 million to manufacture and was labelled with a stiff price of £50 million


Selected collection highlights

File:Damien Hirst's diamond-studded skull.jpg, ''
For the Love of God ''For the Love of God'' is a sculpture by artist Damien Hirst produced in 2007. It consists of a platinum cast of an 18th-century human skull encrusted with 8,601 flawless diamonds, including a pear-shaped pink diamond located in the forehead tha ...
, 2007''
Damien Hirst Damien Steven Hirst (; né Brennan; born 7 June 1965) is an English artist, entrepreneur, and art collector. He is one of the Young British Artists (YBAs) who dominated the art scene in the UK during the 1990s. He is reportedly the United Kingd ...
2007 File:Arken Museum.jpg, ''THE WEIGHT OF THE LIGHT / FROM ABOVE / BROUGHT TO BEAR ON THE FROTH / OF THE WAVES ON THE SEA'',
Lawrence Weiner Lawrence Charles Weiner (February 10, 1942December 2, 2021) was an American conceptual artist. He was one of the central figures in the formation of conceptual art in the 1960s. His work often took the form of typographic texts, a form of word a ...
2007. File:Best Friends Anselm Reyle.jpg, ''Best Friends,''
Anselm Reyle Anselm Reyle (born 1970) is an artist based in Berlin. He is known for his often large-scale abstract paintings and found-object sculptures. Biography Anselm Reyle was born in Tübingen, Germany in 1970. He studied at the Staatliche Akademie d ...
2012 File:Asger Jorn.jpg, ''
Asger Jorn Asger Oluf Jorn (3 March 1914 – 1 May 1973) was a Danish painter, sculptor, ceramic artist, and author. He was a founding member of the avant-garde movement COBRA and the Situationist International. He was born in Vejrum, in the northwest c ...
'' File:The Third Skin (Friedensreich Hundertwasser) - ARKEN Museum for Moderne Kunst - Ishøj (mei 2014).jpg, ''The Third Skin,'' Friedensreich Hundertwasse 2014 File:Anselm Reyle Wagon Wheel.jpg, ''Wagon Wheel,''
Anselm Reyle Anselm Reyle (born 1970) is an artist based in Berlin. He is known for his often large-scale abstract paintings and found-object sculptures. Biography Anselm Reyle was born in Tübingen, Germany in 1970. He studied at the Staatliche Akademie d ...
2009 File:Untitled Anselm Reyle.jpg, ''Untitled,''
Anselm Reyle Anselm Reyle (born 1970) is an artist based in Berlin. He is known for his often large-scale abstract paintings and found-object sculptures. Biography Anselm Reyle was born in Tübingen, Germany in 1970. He studied at the Staatliche Akademie d ...
2010


Exhibitions

Arken highlights temporary annual exhibitions, wielding as thematic or artist-specific in nature to "safeguard Denmark's cultural heritage." There are on-going displays from 1996 to present, with a few notable and renowned works presented from the museum's portfolio.


UTOPIA Project

A research-based series of exhibition that was held in 2008–2011 at Arken Museum of Modern Art, encompasses works of "A Chinese railroad, a floor and wall painting and a corridor full of fog". Throughout the years, each exhibition presented notable international artists, exploring the notions of "the good life" in large-scale installations. The exhibition consisted of two parts: Utopia Revisted and Utopian Positions, incorporating solo shows by Qiu Anxiong,
Katharina Grosse Katharina Grosse (born 2 October 1961) is a German artist. As an artist, Grosse's work employs a use of architecture, sculpture and painting. She is known for her large-scale, site-related installations to create immersive visual experiences. Sh ...
, and
Olafur Eliasson Olafur Eliasson ( is, Ólafur Elíasson; born 5 February 1967) is an Icelandic–Danish artist known for sculptured and large-scale installation art employing elemental materials such as light, water, and air temperature to enhance the viewer's ...
to showcase "the reformulations of utopia in contemporary art."
Grosse stages the museum space as an intermediate state between physical, phenomenological reality and an imaginary, as yet unformulated ‘elsewhere’ that opens up in the painting installation’s brilliantly coloured clouds.


India: Art Now

Held from the period 18 August 2012 to 13 January 2013, this exhibition was the biggest in Arken's history. It showcased Indian installation art by 13 artists and artist groups with the themes of the exhibition being "The Urban Space", "Identity and Everyday Life" and "Self-articulation." The museum displayed large-scale installation of saris, artistic replications of street vendors and high-tech shadow plays.


Van Gogh

An exhibition held on 1 September 2018, holding 39 works curated by infamous artist Vincent van Gogh. It was the first exhibition in over fifty years dedicated to van Gogh's paintings and drawing in Denmark. The exhibition was in collaboration with Kröller-Müller Museum, exclusively focusing on humanity, religion and nature as thematic retrospect on Van Gogh's art.


Young Danish Art: Forecasting the Future

An exhibition from 17 August 2019- 15 March 2020 applying an array of sculptures, installations, animated films and structures, featuring political and cultural changes in contemporary art. The exhibition presents overarching themes of "work culture, belonging and climate crisis."


See also

*
Køge Bugt Strandpark Køge Bugt Strandpark is a seaside public park in the western suburbs of Copenhagen, Denmark, reaching from Avedøre Holme in the northeast to Greve Strand in the southwest. It is about 7 km long and has an area of about 5 km2. Four marinas and ...


References


External links


Official ARKEN Museum of Modern Art website
— includin
ARKEN information in English


Literature

* "Arken - Museum of Modern Art at Ishøj, Denmark" / Henrik Sten Møller. - in ''Living architecture'', 1997, no. 15, pp. 116–133. * "The Arken Art Museum extension". - in ''Arkitektur DK'', 2008, vol. 52, no. 4, pp 32–38. * ''ARKEN: The place and the art'' / edited by Christian Gether ...
t al. T, or t, is the twentieth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''tee'' (pronounced ), plural ''tees''. It is deri ...
- Denmark, Arken Museum of Modern Art, 2016.
{{authority control Museums in the Capital Region of Denmark Buildings and structures in Ishøj Municipality Modern art museums Contemporary art galleries in Denmark Buildings and structures completed in 1996 Art museums and galleries in Denmark Art museums established in 1996 1996 establishments in Denmark