Bjørn Nørgaard
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Bjørn Nørgaard (born 21 May 1947 in
Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...
) is a Danish artist who has been active in a variety of fields. He has significantly influenced the art scene in
Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
both through his "happenings" and his sculptures in Danish cities. Although he has specialized in sculpture since 1970, his greatest achievement is perhaps his work in designing
Queen Margrethe II Margrethe II (; Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid, born 16 April 1940) is a member of the Danish royal family who reigned as Queen of Denmark from 14 January 1972 until her abdication on 14 January 2024. Having reigned for exactly 5 ...
's tapestries. Nørgaard was a professor at the
Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts () has provided education in the arts for more than 250 years, playing its part in the development of the art of Denmark. History The Royal Danish Academy of Portraiture, Sculpture, and Architecture in Cope ...
from 1985 to 1994. His main workshop is in the village of Bissinge on the island of
Møn Møn () is an island in south-eastern Denmark. Until 1 January 2007, it was a municipality in its own right but it is now part of the municipality of Vordingborg Municipality, Vordingborg, after merging with the former municipalities of Langeb ...
.


A versatile artist

Nørgaard studied in the 1960s at the newly founded Copenhagen School of Experimental Art where, as a 17-year-old, he came into contact with artists such as
Per Kirkeby Per Kirkeby (1 September 1938 – 9 May 2018) was a Danish Painting, painter, poet, film maker and sculptor. His works have been exhibited worldwide and are represented in many important public collections, including the Tate, Metropolitan Museum ...
and Richard Winther. Influenced by the German performance artist
Joseph Beuys Joseph Heinrich Beuys ( ; ; 12 May 1921 – 23 January 1986) was a German artist, teacher, performance artist, and Aesthetics, art theorist whose work reflected concepts of humanism and sociology. With Heinrich Böll, , Caroline Tisdall, Rober ...
, he was involved in collaborative works and happenings where he found new ways to give artistic expression to the left-wing causes of the time. One of the most striking of these was "The Female Christ" (1969) when his wife Lene Adler Petersen walked naked with a cross through the
Copenhagen Stock Exchange The Nasdaq Copenhagen, formerly known as the Copenhagen Stock Exchange (), is an international marketplace for Danish securities, including shares, bonds, treasury bills and notes, and financial futures and options. Nasdaq Copenhagen is on ...
in order to remind society of Christ's visit to the temple. Trading was suspended for the rest of the day. Another was his "Horse Sacrifice" (1970) where he slaughtered a horse on a field in the north of
Zealand Zealand ( ) is the largest and most populous islands of Denmark, island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size) at 7,031 km2 (2715 sq. mi.). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 Januar ...
and carved it up into small pieces which he put into hundreds of jam jars. Here he was successful in encouraging the press to focus on the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
and hunger in
Biafra Biafara Anglicisation (linguistics), anglicized as Biafra ( ), officially the Republic of Biafra, was a List of historical unrecognized states and dependencies, partially recognised state in West Africa that declared independence from Nigeria ...
. The
happening A happening is a performance, event, or situation art, usually as performance art. The term was first used by Allan Kaprow in 1959 to describe a range of art-related events. History Origins Allan Kaprow first coined the term "happening" i ...
caused quite a commotion and debate. Working with a variety of materials, Nørgaard applies art to communicating with society whether through sculpture, festivals, film, painting, graphic art or architecture. He has succeeded in providing critical reflections on culture, politics and society as it evolves. Much of his work involves sculpture where he is adept at combining themes from art and culture, providing a new perspective on topics of current interest. His interest in history is certainly one of the reasons why he was chosen in 1990 to design the large-scale sketches for the tapestries tracing the history of Denmark at the request of Queen Margrethe. He was awarded the Ingenio et Arti medal in 1999. His monumental sculptures located in public spaces in several Danish towns combine concrete, marble, ceramics and glass. They include the widely acclaimed Human Wall (1982), now to be displayed at the
Horsens Horsens () is a city on the east coast of the Jutland region of Denmark. It is the seat of the Horsens municipality. The city's population is 64,418 (1 January 2025) and the municipality's population is 97,921 (), making it the List of cities and ...
Art Museum, the
Hans Tausen Hans Tausen (Tavsen) (1494 – 11 November 1561) nicknamed the “Danish Luther” was the leading Lutheran theologian of the Danish Reformation in Denmark. He served as Bishop of Ribe and published the first translation of the Pentateuch in ...
monument (2004) in Viborg, and the Thor's Tower (1986) in Høje Taastrup.


Key works

Nørgaard has been extremely active since the 1970s, producing a wide selection of sculptures and architectural works. Some of the most widely recognized are described below.


Gladsaxe Library

Nørgaard's first commission, which he received in 1979, was to decorate the recently completed
Gladsaxe Gladsaxe Municipality () is a municipality (Danish, '' kommune'') near Copenhagen in Region Hovedstaden on the island of Zealand (''Sjælland'') in eastern Denmark. The municipality covers an area of , and has a total population of 70,958 (2025). ...
Library just outside Copenhagen. Aiming to instill interest in disappearing local crafts, he covered the pillars in the main reading room with leather, mirrors, tape and tiles. In the courtyard, he placed a glass pyramid and a tower reaching for the sky as well as two bronze statues modelled on himself and his wife. The facade was covered with numerous cartoon figures and film strips. In the entrance hall, he built a ceramic den which proved a major attraction for children. At the time his work was considered extremely controversial but has now proved the test of time.


Human Wall

"The Human Wall", created in 1981-82 for the
Guggenheim Museum The Guggenheim Museums are a group of museums in different parts of the world established (or proposed to be established) by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. Museums in this group include: * The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, Ne ...
in New York, brings together a series of historically recognisable figures juxtaposed with some more modern ones, including Nørgaard's daughter in jeans, her hands in her pockets. They include the 3,000-year-old snake women from Czechoslovakia, the ape man from India in
Uncle Sam Uncle Sam (with the same initials as ''United States'') is a common national personification of the United States, depicting the federal government of the United States, federal government or the country as a whole. Since the early 19th centu ...
's top hat, the Indian elephant woman, the
Maya Maya may refer to: Ethnic groups * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Mayan languages, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (East Africa), a p ...
woman, Greek sculptures and a
Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual arts, visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, ...
figure. The work was also exhibited for a number of years in the Danish National Gallery and is now to be moved to the
Horsens Horsens () is a city on the east coast of the Jutland region of Denmark. It is the seat of the Horsens municipality. The city's population is 64,418 (1 January 2025) and the municipality's population is 97,921 (), making it the List of cities and ...
Art Museum in
Jutland Jutland (; , ''Jyske Halvø'' or ''Cimbriske Halvø''; , ''Kimbrische Halbinsel'' or ''Jütische Halbinsel'') is a peninsula of Northern Europe that forms the continental portion of Denmark and part of northern Germany (Schleswig-Holstein). It ...
.


Thor's Tower

Standing 26.5 metres high, "Thor's Tower" (1986), strategically located close to Høje Taastrup railway station, is Scandinavia's tallest sculpture. It consists of many different materials including some 20,000 glazed tiles, granite figures, grey and white concrete facing as well as various metals and coloured glass. The neon tubes encircling the central pillar shine at night. Inspired by
Nordic mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology, is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia as the Nordic folklore of the modern period. The ...
, the sculpture relies on the connection between Taarup's historic relationship with the god
Thor Thor (from ) is a prominent list of thunder gods, god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred g ...
.


Margrethe II's tapestries

On the occasion of her 50th birthday in 1990,
Queen Margrethe II Margrethe II (; Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid, born 16 April 1940) is a member of the Danish royal family who reigned as Queen of Denmark from 14 January 1972 until her abdication on 14 January 2024. Having reigned for exactly 5 ...
decided to use a gift from industry of 13 million Danish crowns to produce a series of tapestries tracing the history of Denmark from the beginnings to the present day. Woven by the historic Manufacture des Gobelins in Paris, the tapestries were based on Nørgaard's full-sized sketches. Completed in 1999, they now hang in the Great Hall at
Christiansborg Palace Christiansborg Palace (, ) is a palace and government building on the islet of Slotsholmen in central Copenhagen, Denmark. It is the seat of the Danish Parliament (), the Danish Prime Minister's Office, and the Supreme Court of Denmark. Also ...
.


City Gate, Randers

The "City Gate" stands on Adelgade in
Randers Randers () is a city in Randers Municipality, Central Denmark Region on the Jutland peninsula. It is List of cities and towns in Denmark, Denmark's sixth-largest city, with a population of 64,511 ().Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...
in 2004, Nørgaard created the imposing statue of
Hans Tausen Hans Tausen (Tavsen) (1494 – 11 November 1561) nicknamed the “Danish Luther” was the leading Lutheran theologian of the Danish Reformation in Denmark. He served as Bishop of Ribe and published the first translation of the Pentateuch in ...
, its main protagonist. The statue stands in Viborg's Hans Tausen's Remembrance Park in the centre of the city.


Burghers of Holstebro

"The Burghers of Holstebro" is a monument created by Nørgaard in 2004. Located at a crossing on Nørrebro in the centre of the city of
Holstebro Holstebro is the main town in Holstebro Municipality, Denmark. The town, bisected by Storå, Denmark, ''Storåen'' ("The Large Creek") and has a population of 37,487 (1 January 2025).Auguste Rodin François Auguste René Rodin (; ; 12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a u ...
's sculpture
The Burghers of Calais ''The Burghers of Calais'' () is a sculpture by Auguste Rodin in 12 original castings and numerous copies. It commemorates an event during the Hundred Years' War, when Calais, a French port on the English Channel, surrendered to the English af ...
as well as by Christ's disciples, it was modelled on plaster casts of local citizens, bringing a message of hope for the future.


Bispebjerg Bakke

The recently completed apartment complex (2006) in the
Bispebjerg Bispebjerg, more commonly referred to as Nordvest (English: North-West), is one of the 10 official districts of Copenhagen Municipality, Denmark. Located on the northern border of the municipality, it covers an area of 5.39 km2 and a populat ...
district of northern Copenhagen is Nørgaard's proof that it is possible to combine innovative architecture with good living conditions enhanced by an encouraging environment. The two wave-formed structures snake across the site with hardly a straight line to be seen. Striving to demonstrate that established craftmanship can compete with modern building methods, Nørgaard typically combines the use of various materials: wood and aluminium for the windows, zinc and copper for the roofs, red and yellow bricks for the walls.


Exhibitions

* Statens Museum for Kunst: Venus mirrors mirrors Venus (2005). *Køge Art Museum: Sketches for Queen Margrethe's tapestries. *
Chemnitz Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt (); ; ) is the third-largest city in the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden, and the fourth-largest city in the area of former East Germany after (East Be ...
, Germany (2009): Bjørn Nørgaard — Kunstsamlungen Chemnitz. * Statens Museum for Kunst: Re-modelling the World (2010).Statens Museum for Kunst


See also

*
Art of Denmark Danish art is the visual arts produced in Denmark or by Danish artists. It goes back thousands of years with significant artifacts from the 2nd millennium BC, such as the Trundholm sun chariot. For many early periods, it is usually considered a ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Norgaard, Bjorn 21st-century Danish sculptors 21st-century Danish male artists Danish textile artists Danish contemporary artists Modern artists Danish performance artists Living people 1947 births Academic staff of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts Recipients of Ingenio et Arti Recipients of the Thorvaldsen Medal Recipients of the Eckersberg Medal Recipients of the Prince Eugen Medal Danish male sculptors