Overview
From March 22, 2026, He Art Museum (HEM) presents "Per Kirkeby: I Make My Own System," the first major solo exhibition in Asia by Danish artist Per Kirkeby. Bringing together over 30 representative works from the 1980s to 2010, the exhibition outlines the diverse facets of the artist's decades-long practice, and features the debut of his iconic brick sculptures.
Per Kirkeby (1938–2018) worked in an extraordinary range of media over his nearly six-decades-long career. Driven by an insatiable curiosity, his oeuvre was shaped by a deep sensitivity to the natural world that manifested across all facets of his practice.
Kirkeby’s ideas about landscape, and his sensitivity to natural light and color, can be traced to his studies in natural history and geology at the University of Copenhagen, where he participated in several expeditions to the Arctic and Greenland in the late 1950s. These experiences provided an important visual foundation for his painting practice, which, in his often-preferred vertical format, shares a quiet kinship with Chinese landscape traditions. In 1980, Kirkeby bought a house on Læsø, spending summers there and drawing lasting inspiration from the island’s landscapes and sea for both graphic and painterly works.
In 1966, Kirkeby began using local masonry brick as a sculptural material, stacking bricks to form simple cubic structures. Drawing on the ubiquity of brick in Danish architecture, these works marked his first move into three-dimensional practice. In 1973, he completed his first major outdoor brick sculpture in Ikast, Denmark, initiating a series of large-scale installations influenced by Mayan architecture he encountered during travels to Mexico and Central America in 1971.
As his career expanded internationally in the 1980s, Kirkeby began working in bronze, a medium that would become a significant part of his sculptural oeuvre. Equally important to his development as a painter was his early involvement in film, performance, and poetry. He published his first book of poems in the 1960s and, over the decades, continued to pursue collaborations in film, theater, and set and costume design.
From 1978 until 1988, Kirkeby taught at the Art Academy in Karlsruhe followed by a professorship at the Städelschule in Frankfurt.
He represented Denmark at the Venice Biennale in 1976, and participated again in 1980, 1993 and 1997. Kirkeby also featured in the landmark Documenta VII in 1982, curated by Rudi Fuchs, and exhibited again at Documenta IX in 1992.
This exhibition invites viewers on a journey through nature, geology, and artistic systems—from the vastness of the Arctic to the structure of brick, from landscapes on canvas to the permanence of bronze. In his distinctive approach, Kirkeby weaved the world into a silent yet richly layered dialogue.
"I Make My Own System," yet it is a system open to all. Beginning on March 22, He Art Museum invites you to explore the unique artistic world constructed by Per Kirkeby.
* This exhibition is co-organized by VeneKlasen and Galerie Michael Werner, with Ms. Birte Kleemann and Dr. Shen Qilan as the co-curators.
Per Kirkeby (1938–2018) worked in an extraordinary range of media over his nearly six-decades-long career. Driven by an insatiable curiosity, his oeuvre was shaped by a deep sensitivity to the natural world that manifested across all facets of his practice.
Kirkeby’s ideas about landscape, and his sensitivity to natural light and color, can be traced to his studies in natural history and geology at the University of Copenhagen, where he participated in several expeditions to the Arctic and Greenland in the late 1950s. These experiences provided an important visual foundation for his painting practice, which, in his often-preferred vertical format, shares a quiet kinship with Chinese landscape traditions. In 1980, Kirkeby bought a house on Læsø, spending summers there and drawing lasting inspiration from the island’s landscapes and sea for both graphic and painterly works.
In 1966, Kirkeby began using local masonry brick as a sculptural material, stacking bricks to form simple cubic structures. Drawing on the ubiquity of brick in Danish architecture, these works marked his first move into three-dimensional practice. In 1973, he completed his first major outdoor brick sculpture in Ikast, Denmark, initiating a series of large-scale installations influenced by Mayan architecture he encountered during travels to Mexico and Central America in 1971.
As his career expanded internationally in the 1980s, Kirkeby began working in bronze, a medium that would become a significant part of his sculptural oeuvre. Equally important to his development as a painter was his early involvement in film, performance, and poetry. He published his first book of poems in the 1960s and, over the decades, continued to pursue collaborations in film, theater, and set and costume design.
From 1978 until 1988, Kirkeby taught at the Art Academy in Karlsruhe followed by a professorship at the Städelschule in Frankfurt.
He represented Denmark at the Venice Biennale in 1976, and participated again in 1980, 1993 and 1997. Kirkeby also featured in the landmark Documenta VII in 1982, curated by Rudi Fuchs, and exhibited again at Documenta IX in 1992.
This exhibition invites viewers on a journey through nature, geology, and artistic systems—from the vastness of the Arctic to the structure of brick, from landscapes on canvas to the permanence of bronze. In his distinctive approach, Kirkeby weaved the world into a silent yet richly layered dialogue.
"I Make My Own System," yet it is a system open to all. Beginning on March 22, He Art Museum invites you to explore the unique artistic world constructed by Per Kirkeby.
* This exhibition is co-organized by VeneKlasen and Galerie Michael Werner, with Ms. Birte Kleemann and Dr. Shen Qilan as the co-curators.