ARKEN Museum of Contemporary Art

ARKEN Museum of Contemporary Art in Ishøj south of Copenhagen presents exhibitions with Danish, Nordic and international art – from new, young talents to established names

ARKEN is a great and monumental building situated in the artificial landscape Køge Bay Beach south of Copenhagen. The museum has one of Scandinavia's finest collections of contemporary art, and the museum's maritime architecture with the pointed stern, which majestically protudes into the terrain, has won recognition both at home and abroad since its inaugaration in 1996. 

ARKEN's collection contains more than 400 works - Danish, Nordic and international contemporary art primarly from the period after 1990. The museum houses, among other things, one of Europe's most important collections of the British artist Damien Hirst. Experience the museum's evolving sculpture park, nine works by acclaimed German artist Anselm Reyle as well as a magnificent masterpiece by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei. 

Distinctive architecture
The museum building is an attraction in itself. With its scenic location on Kunstens Ø, or ‘Art Island’, the building, designed by the architect Søren Robert Lund, resembles a beached ship. A lagoon meanders its way around the museum, with several bridges linking the museum island with the surrounding beach area.

The museum café hangs like a lifeboat on the side of the building and through the large panoramic windows overlooks Køge Bay.

The museum shop is the area's leading design shop with an inspiring mix of Nordic design, art books, and gift items.

 

Exhibitions (arken.dk):

 

Anish Kapoor, Unseen: 11.4.24-20.10.24

Anish Kapoor
Kapoor's monumental sculptures and installations speak directly to our senses and emotions. Through his unique eye for materials, shapes, colours and surfaces we are drawn into and seduced by his work, which turns the world upside down — often quite literally. Kapoor has been shown in the largest exhibition venues in the world, and he has also created several significant pieces for public spaces. Anish Kapoor was born and raised in an Indian-Jewish family in India. From 1973, he was educated in England, where he has worked ever since.ARKEN's exhibition
The exhibition at ARKEN showcases a selection of Kapoor's most significant large-scale works created during the artist's more than 40-year career. The exhibition will be spread throughout most of ARKEN's halls: the Art Axis, the Large Gallery, the Graphic Gallery and other adjacent galleries. Despite the large exhibition space, the exhibition contains only about 10 works. The majority, however, are very extensive, and in scale and intensity the works will fill the entire museum. All of the works are built specifically for and integrated into ARKEN's architecture. In this way, the exhibition will take the form of a total intervention in architecture that challenges the usual way the building is used and the spaces are experienced.

I Am Fire and Water, Ursula Reuter Christian­sen: 22.8.24-01.01.25

How can we be human in a world where hope and courage are constantly challenged by cruelty and despair? What do we do when children are robbed of their lives in war? And how do we part with this world, standing between love and the abyss?

The exhibition I Am Fire and Water is a powerful performance by Ursula Reuter Christiansen bringing together eight major installations from the earliest years to the present day, from painting and sculpture to installation and film. Several of the works in the exhibition have been created especially for this exhibition.

For six decades, Ursula Reuter Christiansen has been among the most significant living artists in Denmark, and today she stands on the threshold of an international breakthrough. In her artistic practice, she transforms her lived life into art and comes to grips with the crises and disasters unfolding in the world. Beauty and harmony give way to the powerful and uncomfortable when Reuter Christiansen brings to life fears and longings that are not only her own but are part of the human condition.

She invites you to take a walk through the exhibition, which at the same time is a walk through the facets of life. From the colossal installation Rotten Eggs Against Bombs, in which rotten eggs drift down the canvases, to Washed Out Faces, composed of white pieces of fabric displaying blood-red demon-faces, hung to dry on oversized laundry racks. In the installation Es Ist Zu Spät, created especially for this exhibition, one walks with the artist on a journey through – and perhaps a parting with – the world. A whispering voice repeats the message “es ist noch nicht zu spät” (it is not too late) and shortly after “es ist zu spät” (it is too late). A balance on a knife edge between hope and hopelessness.


 

Related Attractions

Opening Hours

24.12.2024 - 01.01.2025:
Monday: closed
Tuesday: closed
Wednesday: closed
Thursday: 11:00 - 17:00
Friday: 11:00 - 17:00
Saturday: 11:00 - 17:00
Sunday: 11:00 - 17:00

02.01.2025 - 23.12.2025:
Monday: closed
Tuesday: 10:00 - 17:00
Wednesday: 11:00 - 17:00
Thursday: 11:00 - 21:00
Friday: 11:00 - 17:00
Saturday: 11:00 - 17:00
Sunday: 11:00 - 17:00

Location

Skovvej 100 Ishøj

2635 Ishøj


https://www.arken.dk/

Restaurant

Wheelchair Accessible