ARTISTS

Per Kirkeby was born 1939 in Copenhagen. As a geology student he travelled widely on expeditions to Greenland, Iceland, Central Asia and Middle America. From the 60s onwards he made himself a name as a performance artist, graphic artist, painter, sculptor, writer, director of films and, in 1995, as an architect. He is one of the most prominent exponents of contemporary Danish art. Kirkeby lives and works in Copenhagen, Læsø, Frankfurt and Italy.

Kirkeby died on 9 May 2018 at the age of 79.

Exhibitions and Distinctions (Selection)

2014
Galerie Daniel Blau, Munich

2009—2010
Museum Kunst Palast, Düsseldorf

2008—2009
Louisiana Museum, Humblebaek

2003
Herbert-Boeckl-Prize for his life work Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humblebaek. Museum Ludwig, Cologne

1999
Tate Gallery, London; Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich

1996
Coutts Contemporary Art Foundation. Henrik Steffens Award by the Alfred Toepfer Foundation, Hamburg

1995
Haus der Kunst, Munich. Musée des Beaux Arts, Nantes

1990
Moderna Museet, Stockholm. Nord LB Art Prize

1987
Thorvalsden Medal. Ludwig Museum, Cologne

1982
DAAD scholarship for Berlin. Stedelijk van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven

1980
Danish Pavilion at Venice Biennale. Participation in A new Spirit in Painting,

1978—1989
Professorship at the Cologne Academy of Arts

1979
Kunsthalle Bern Museum

1977
Folkwang, Essen

Literature (Selection)

Per Kirkeby—Paintings 1957-77. Catalogue Raisonné, ed. by Ane Hejlskov Larson, Cologne, 2003

Per Kirkeby—Catalogue Raisonné of Etchings, ed. by Troels Andersen, Bern Berlin, 2002

Per Kirkeby—Louisiana 2008, ed. by Michael Juul Holm, Louisiana, 2008

Per Kirkeby—Die Welt ist Material, ed. by Museum Kunst Palast, Düsseldorf, 2010