Arken Museum of Modern Art

Arken Museum of Modern Art

Established	15 March 1996; 28 years ago (1996-03-15)
Location	Skovvej 100 Ishøj, Denmark
Coordinates	55.6062°N 12.3876°E / 55.6062; 12.3876
Type	Art museum
Director	Marie Nipper
Architect	Søren Robert Lund
Website	www.arken.dk

ARKEN Museum of Modern Art (Danish: ARKEN Museum for Moderne Kunst) is a state-authorised private non-profit charity and contemporary art museum in Ishøj, near Copenhagen.^[1] The museum is among Denmark's major contemporary and modern art collections, holding a variety of international cultural works and exhibitions.^[2] The museum was designed by Søren Robert Lund and was authorised by Copenhagen County.^[3] It was inaugurated on 15 March 1996 and was conceived by Queen Margrethe.^[4]

Arken Museum of Modern Art's collection contains major works of over 400 Danish, Scandinavian and International post-war art.^[5][6] Arken, due to its synthesis of contemporary art, maritime architecture and landscape, is also considered as a milestone in Danish architecture. The museum focuses on an overview of contemporary and modern art, presenting cultural and research-based exhibitions, architecture and design, sculptures, paintings, prints, site installations and mixed-media displays.

History, context and influences

Arken (Danish for ‘the Ark’), was created and publicised in 1996, featuring an amassed assemble of international works.^[7]

The museum re-opened in January 2008 after major refurbishing, which included an expansion providing an additional 50% of gallery-space.

Conception

In the 20th century, there was a global growth of contemporary art museums. 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.^[8]

In 1988, an architectural competition for the creation of a new contemporary art museum in southwest of Copenhagen was held. A design put forward by Søren Robert Lund won first-prize. The name, Arken, was also chosen from the competition. The initial idea was for Arken to be located on the beach as a characteristic maritime architectural form to reflect its Danish title. However, due to conservation concerns, the museum was built further back.^[9]

Svend Jakobsen was chairman of the museum between 1997 and 2007.^[10]

Arken Museum of Modern Art

21st Century

Arken underwent two major renovation and expansion projects, 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, Marc Quinn, Mona Hatoum, Jeppe Hein, Jeff Koons and Elmgreen & Dragset.^[11]

The museum also published the Arken Bulletin, a discussion for academics regarding artistic theory and museology.

Each year, Arken awards the ARKENs kunstpris prize– 100,000 Danish kroner– to a contemporary artist.

Architecture

The museum building is deconstructive and nautically-inspired.^[12][13]

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 deconstructionist styles.^[14]

Extensions

Since its inauguration in 1996, the museum has undergone numerous expansions and renovations.^[15] One, in 2008, furnished the museum with an additional 50% of gallery space. The expansion allowed the museum to shift its focus on paintings, design and artworks on paper to include sculptural works.

Extension 1: 2008-2009

Interior of ARKEN

The Museum reopened its doors publicly on 5 September 2009, following a renovation executed by Arken's original architect Søren Robert Lund and design partner, C. F. Møller Architect.^[1] 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.^[16]

This extension significantly expanded Arken's new exhibit room to 1,600 square metres (17,000 sq ft), and a total area of 5,000 square metres (54,000 sq ft). The museum removed 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."^[17][5]

The ceilings were lowered, and a new white box design was introduced. The annex's designer was Anna Maria Indrio, from C. F. Møller.^[16] The Annie and Otto Johs. Detlefs Foundation lent financial support to the new 1,100 square metres (12,000 sq ft) extension, both donating approximately $10 million. The Detlefs Hall was designed for displaying sculptural works. An additional extension of educational workshop rooms was incorporated and refurbished across the north side of the building.^[6] The redesigned entrance leads to a 600 square metres (6,500 sq ft) large room, functioning as the core of the museum, and being a central point for all rooms and amenities.^[18]

Extension 2: 2016

Landscape of ARKEN

Arken's second extension was funded by Arnold Peter Møller, Hustru Chastine, and the McKinney Møller Foundation for General Purposes.^[6] 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."^[3] The museum was moved to an island, instead of the original plan of a beach-side placement, due to environmental conservation factors regarding ecological balance and heritage. The extension includes of three road bridges, two pedestrian bridges, lagoons, native plantations and an architectural sculptural park.^[19] The refurbishment and extension were managed by Schul Landskabsarkitekter in conjunction with Møller and Grønborg, as a "transition from nature to culture."^[1][6]

Collections

The Museum is a home to many important international cultural pieces and notable displays from a collective assemble of over 400 artists. The collection spans from World War II to the present day, incorporating permanent installations by Damien Hirst, Olafur Eliasson, Ai Wei Wei, Ingar Dragset and Michael Elmgreen and Asger Jorn.^[20]

The museum's collection aims to incorporates two underpinning themes: modern human condition, and art that questions the essential definition of art itself, via new media, mixed-materials and sculptural forms.^[1]

Selected pieces

• 
  "The weight of light / from above / brought to bear on the froth / of the waves of the sea, Lawrence Weiner 2007.
• 
  Best Friends, Anselm Reyle 2012
• 
  Asger Jorn
• 
  The Third Skin, Friedensreich Hundertwasser 2014
• 
  Wagon Wheel, Anselm Reyle 2009
• 
  Untitled, Anselm Reyle 2010

Exhibitions

The museum holds temporary annual exhibitions– usually thematic or artist-specific– to "safeguard Denmark's cultural heritage."^[1] There are on-going displays from 1996 to present.

UTOPIA Project

A research-based series of exhibitions was held in 2008–2011 at Arken Museum of Modern Art, comprising works of "A Chinese railroad, a floor and wall painting and a corridor full of fog".^[21] Each exhibition presented notable international artists, exploring the notions of "the good life" in large-scale installations.^[22] The exhibition consisted of two parts: Utopia Revisted and Utopian Positions, incorporating solo shows by Qiu Anxiong, Katharina Grosse, and Olafur Eliasson to showcase "the reformulations of utopia in contemporary art."^[23]

India: Art Now

Held between 18 August 2012 to 13 January 2013, India: Art Now was the biggest in Arken's history.^[24] It comprised Indian installation art by 13 artists and artist groups with themes of "The Urban Space", "Identity and Everyday Life" and "Self-articulation."^{[clarification needed][25]} The museum displayed large-scale installation of saris, artistic replications of street vendors and high-tech shadow plays.^[26]

Van Gogh

An exhibition held on 1 September 2018, holding 39 works by Vincent van Gogh. It was the first exhibition in over fifty years dedicated to van Gogh's paintings and drawing in Denmark.^[27] The exhibition was in collaboration with Kröller-Müller Museum, exclusively focusing on humanity, religion and nature as thematic retrospect on Van Gogh's art.^{[citation needed]}

Young Danish Art: Forecasting the Future

Young Danish Art: Forecasting the Future was an exhibition from 17 August 2019 to 15 March 2020 comprising an array of sculptures, installations, animated films and structures featuring political and cultural changes in contemporary art. The exhibition presented overarching themes of "work culture, belonging and climate crisis."^[28]

See also

• Køge Bugt Strandpark

References

1. "Arken Museum of Modern Art". ASEF culture360. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
2. Ltd, Time Out Guides (21 August 2014). Time Out Copenhagen 6th edition. Ebury Publishing. p. 153. ISBN 978-1-4735-1405-8.
3. Bianchini, Riccardo (2019). "Arken Museum of Modern Art, Ishøj - Copenhagen". Inexhibit. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
4. Ltd, Time Out Guides (21 August 2014). Time Out Copenhagen 6th edition. Ebury Publishing. p. 203. ISBN 978-1-4735-1405-8.
5. Kicinski, Andrzej (2008). "MUSEUM IN THE LANDSCAPE - KROLLER-MULLER IN OTTERLO, LOUISIANA AND ARKEN NEAR COPENHAGEN, ANDRE MALRAUX IN LE HAVRE AND ORONSKO (Muzea w pejzazu Kroller-Muller w Otterlo, Luisiana i Arken pod Kopenhaga, Andre Malraux w Le Havre i Oronsko)". Muzealnictwo (in Polish). 49: 256–273. ISSN 0464-1086.
6. "ARKEN". Copenhagen by design. Archived from the original on 20 April 2020. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
7. Reshaping museum space : architecture, design, exhibitions. Macleod, Suzanne. London: Routledge. 2005. ISBN 0-203-48322-7. OCLC 187935331.
8. Kleiner, Fred S.; Mamiya, Christin J. (2005). "The Development of Modernist Art: The Early 20th Century". Gardner's art through the ages : the Western perspective. Thomson Wadsworth. p. 796. ISBN 0-495-00478-2. OCLC 60393393. Archived from the original on 10 May 2016.
9. "a new landscape for Arken Museum of Modern Art". danish design review. 21 February 2016. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
10. Claus Bryld; Ulrik Brandt (1 June 2022). "Svend Jakobsen". Den Store Danske Encyklopædi.
11. "The new Arken opening Arken Museum of Modern Art Ishoj". 1995-2015.undo.net (in Italian). Retrieved 2 June 2020.
12. Johnson, Philip, 1906-2005. (1988). Deconstructivist architecture : the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Wigley, Mark., Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.). Boston: Little, Brown. ISBN 0-87070-298-X. OCLC 18376913.
13. Miller, William C. (31 August 2016). Nordic Modernism: Scandinavian Architecture 1890-2017. The Crowood Press. p. 171. ISBN 978-1-78500-237-3.
14. Passikoff, Alexander G. (2011). A façade of buildings : a collection of architectural styles, architects, and their buildings that make up the face of New York. AuthorHouse. p. 39. ISBN 978-1-4567-9490-3. OCLC 797923869.
15. Macleod, Suzanne (2005). Reshaping museum space : architecture, design, exhibitions. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-203-48322-7. OCLC 187935331.
16. "Danish museum of Modern Art reorients itself with improved interiors - DesignCurial". www.designcurial.com. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
17. "ARKEN, extension". C.F. Møller. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
18. "Arken to Open Expanded Museum with 1,100 New Square Meters". artdaily.cc. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
19. "schul » Arken september 2017". Retrieved 1 June 2020.
20. "ARKEN | VisitCopenhagen". www.visitcopenhagen.com. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
21. Jalving, Camilla (2011). "A Review of the UTOPIA Project at ARKEN Museum of Modern Art in Denmark: A Review of the UTOPIA Project at ARKEN Museum of Modern Art in Denmark". Utopian Studies. 22 (2): 360–367. doi:10.5325/utopianstudies.22.2.0360. ISSN 1045-991X. JSTOR 10.5325/utopianstudies.22.2.0360. S2CID 145541979.
22. Jalving, Camilla (29 September 2011). "Utopia at the Art Museum: A Review of the UTOPIA Project at ARKEN Museum of Modern Art in Denmark". Utopian Studies. 22 (2): 360–366. doi:10.5325/utopianstudies.22.2.0360. ISSN 2154-9648. S2CID 145541979.
23. Gether, Christian; Høholt, Stine; Laurberg, Marie (2012). Utopia & contemporary art. ARKEN Museum of Modern Art ; Hatje Cantz Verlag. ISBN 978-3-7757-3281-9. OCLC 769430162.
24. "Indian Art at ARKEN Museum of Modern Art in Denmark". News Powered by Cision. 9 August 2012. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
25. "Extract from INDIA : ART NOW catalogue". Issuu. 24 September 2012. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
26. "India : Art Now at Arken Museum of Modern Art Copenhagen - Artmap.com". artmap.com. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
27. "For the first time in the last 50 years Arken Museum presents a retrospective on van Gogh". Arthive. 11 December 2018. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
28. "Young Danish Art". Wall Street International. 2019.

External links

• Official ARKEN Museum of Modern Art website — including 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 ... [et al.]. - Denmark, Arken Museum of Modern Art, 2016.