Per Kirkeby (born 1938) is one of the most internationally acclaimed Danish artists today. After completing his masters in arctic geology and travelling in Greenland in the late 1950’s, he attended the newly founded “Eksskolen” in Copenhagen, where he worked as a painter, sculptor, and writer. He also experimented with lithography which he continues to use.

In the mid-1980s, Per Kirkeby rose to prominence alongside artists such as Georg Baselitz and Sigmar Polke, who were pioneering the rise of new painting. However Kirkeby's work defies categories by mixing high art and popular culture with natural scenery and keeping strong roots in the artistic and cultural traditions of Denmark.
One of his conceptual themes is the examination of European architecture.
Since the 1960’s Per Kirkeby has been exploring the ornament in architecture and building sculptural forms which are in essence representational buildings.

Per Kirkeby has exhibited work extensively worldwide and his art is displayed in numerous public collections including: Tate Gallery, London, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Museum of Modern Art, New York and Centre Pompidou in Paris.

The exhibition explores the exceptional diversity of Kirkeby's career spanning four decades, and features 148 works including paintings on masonite and canvas, bronze sculptures and rarely-shown works on paper as well as a comprehensive selection of the artist's extensive writings.

For more information on the Per Kirkeby exhibition, please go to: www.tate.org.uk
Tate Modern
Bankside
London
SE1 9TG