Per Kirkeby
(1 September 1938 – 9 May 2018)
This project was based on images taken from sketch books from Kirkeby's past. Large in scale and immediate in nature, these gestural pieces reflect a freedom of expression typically found in drawing and painting.
 
Per Kirkeby
Monotype
Per Kirkeby is a Danish artist whose interest in geology and natural environments has exerted great influence over his large-scale paintings. He is best known for a masterful use of color layered atop structural sketches in frenetic, urgent abstract works. Born on September 1, 1938 in Copenhagen, Denmark, Kirkeby studied geology at the University of Copenhagen, but continued to pursue his art practice, producing paintings, sculpture, films, and prints. His performances led him to work with Conceptual artists Joseph Beuys, Nam June Paik, and Charlotte Moorman in the 1960s. The Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, considered the most important museum of modern and contemporary art in Denmark, in the fishing village Humlebæk mounted a retrospective of his works in 2008, followed by the Tate Modern in London and the Museum Kunstpalast in Düsseldorf in 2009. Sadly, in 2013 Kirkeby suffered a serious brain injury in a fall, and has since been unable to paint. He currently lives and works between Copenhagen, Læsø, and Arnasco.