Venice Biennale and documenta participant Per Kirkeby (*1938 in Copenhagen) is the most important representative of Scandinavian art today, with his numerous international exhibitions demonstrating an outstanding role in European art of the late twentieth century. In his paintings, Kirkeby—who also has a doctorate in geology—intensely explores the metamorphosis of nature, and these works occupy a significant part of his richly diverse oeuvre, which also includes drawings, prints, sculptures, literature, works on film, architectural creations, and set design.
Featuring key pieces from a private collection in Switzerland, this full-color publication encompasses Kirkeby’s works from the early eighties to the present. His paintings, through which his creative development and artistic achievements become evident, appear alongside a selection of works on paper, including impressive sketches made on his travels. Kirkeby’s work from the seventies is deliberately left out of this monograph, for it was only later that he underwent a conscious creative change, consequently developing an unmistakable and distinctive visual language.
 

Exhibition schedule: Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk, September 2, 2008–January 25, 2009 · Tate, London, spring 2009