Per Kirkeby, J.P. Jacobsen, 2012. Scultpure in Bronze
Courtesy of the artist, Galleri Bo Bjerggaard and CHART in Tivoli 2024. Photo by Jan Søndergaard
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About The Work
For CHART in Tivoli 2024 Bo Bjerggaard presents Per Kirkeby's monument to J.P. Jacobsen (1847-1885) in bronze, a significant tribute that encapsulates the artist's classic vocabulary. The sculpture appears with an upright tree on the front, bisected by a slit in the middle, which reflects the geological forms that often appear in Kirkeby's works, inspired by his numerous expeditions to Greenland. Kirkeby's vocabulary often includes meltwater cones; in the sculpture, this is clearly seen as a fan-shaped structure at the base.
On the back of the sculpture, stones are found placed at the base of the tree. When viewing the sculpture from this angle, another characteristic feature of Kirkeby's artistic language is revealed: the beam. At the top of the sculpture, there is an indication of a horizontal beam, while a vertical beam is also integrated into the design. These elements of beams, stones, and meltwater cones are recognizable motifs that frequently appear in Kirkeby's paintings.
Per Kirkeby, J.P. Jacobsen, 2012. Scultpure in Bronze
Courtesy of the artist, Galleri Bo Bjerggaard and CHART in Tivoli 2024. Photo by Jan Søndergaard
Per Kirkeby, J.P. Jacobsen, 2012. Scultpure in Bronze
Courtesy of the artist, Galleri Bo Bjerggaard and CHART in Tivoli 2024. Photo by Jan Søndergaard
Portrait of Per Kirkeby
Courtesy of Galleri Bo Bjerggaard. Photo by Helene Sandberg
About The Artist
Per Kirkeby (1938–2018, DK) is among the most internationally acclaimed and prolific Danish artists. His work is influenced by a background in arctic geology, along with an interest in both the natural and built environment. An early member of the ‘Eks-skolen’ (The Experimental Art School), his approach remained iconoclastic throughout his career. As he has mentioned, ‘The role of art is to accept that things break down. That is the only way to get something new to emerge’. Known for the variety of media in his practice, he fearlessly combined painting, sculpture, and printmaking using a multitude of techniques to explore the tensions between abstraction and representation. Reoccurring motifs of architecture, structures, rocks, figures, flora, and fauna appear within a wide-ranging palette of radiant to earthy colours and deep inky blacks.
Danish artist Per Kirkeby (1938–2018, Copenhagen) joined Eks-skolen (The Experimental Art School), Copenhagen (1962) and graduated from University of Copenhagen, MA, Arctic Geology (1964). He was Professor at Academy of Art, Karlsruhe (1978-89) and Professor at Die Städelschule, Frankfurt (1989-2000). He is represented in collections including Centre Pompidou, Musée National d’Art Moderne, Paris; Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York; Moderna Museet, Stockholm; Museum Ludwig, Cologne; Statens Museum for Kunst (SMK), Copenhagen; Tate Modern, London; among others.
Per Kirkeby is represented by Galleri Bo Bjerggaard.
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