About the work
Kirkeby's paintings move between figurative and abstract art. Characteristic of his painting are large formats, bright colors, rugged, vegetative, openwork forms. Besides his background in natural science, his inspiration came from journeys to Greenland, Central America or the Arctic. Inspired by nature, his paintings nevertheless never really became concretely depictive.
About the artist
born 1938 in Copenhagen - Denmark
died 2018 ibid.
First Per Kirkeby studied geology at the University of Copenhagen from 1957 to 1964 and graduated with a doctorate. Then the turn to art took place, and he cultivated the "geology of the gaze" as the well-known art historian Siegfried Gohr once said. In the 1970s Kirkeby made a turn away from Pop Art towards informal painting. In the beginning, the artist became known primarily for his brick sculptures, which were still a trademark later on. Bronze sculptures, graphics but also poems and films show an immense complexity.
In 1978 Kirkeby was appointed professor at the State Academy of Fine Arts Karlsruhe. Several times he was represented at the Documenta in Kassel and the Biennale Vendig.