Arken Museum of Modern Art

Arken (Danish for ‘the Ark’), was created and publicised in 1996, featuring an amassed assemble of international works. The museum re-opened in January 2008 after major refurbishing, which included an expansion providing an additional 50% of gallery-space. Conception In the 20th century, there was a global growth of contemporary art museums. Collectively, this influenced a rise and a prominent increase in cultural institutions to showcase both local and international art. It has played a major role in the development and collection of contemporary art. In 1988, an architectural competition for the creation of a new contemporary art museum in southwest of Copenhagen was held. A design put forward by Søren Robert Lund won first-prize. The name, Arken, was also chosen from the competition. The initial idea was for Arken to be located on the beach as a characteristic maritime architectural form to reflect its Danish title. However, due to conservation concerns, the museum was built further back. Svend Jakobsen was chairman of the museum between 1997 and 2007. The museum also published the Arken Bulletin, a discussion for academics regarding artistic theory and museology. Each year, Arken awards the ARKENs kunstpris prize– 100,000 Danish kroner– to a contemporary artist. ==Architecture==

The museum building is deconstructive and nautically-inspired. Arken's formal plan incorporates assembled building parts, split and fragmented to create a fragmented ship form and a floor plan with slanted angles. Contrasting colours of grey to red walls, large open rooms to small rooms, and slanted building angles with curved galleries creates visible deconstructionist styles. Extensions Since its inauguration in 1996, the museum has undergone numerous expansions and renovations. One, in 2008, furnished the museum with an additional 50% of gallery space. The expansion allowed the museum to shift its focus on paintings, design and artworks on paper to include sculptural works. Extension 1: 2008-2009 The Museum reopened its doors publicly on 5 September 2009, following a renovation executed by Arken's original architect Søren Robert Lund and design partner, C. F. Møller Architect. This extension significantly expanded Arken's new exhibit room to , and a total area of . The museum removed load-bearing walls or columns in all individual rooms, with the new exhibition hall structured as four white quadrants. Air conditioning structures were recessed into walls and security equipment was placed in floor boxed beneath steel plates, as C.F. Møller aimed to retain Arken's "existing facade’s rhythm and proportions." The redesigned entrance leads to a large room, functioning as the core of the museum, and being a central point for all rooms and amenities. Extension 2: 2016 Arken's second extension was funded by Arnold Peter Møller, Hustru Chastine, and the McKinney Møller Foundation for General Purposes. The refurbishment and extension were managed by Schul Landskabsarkitekter in conjunction with Møller and Grønborg, as a "transition from nature to culture." == Collections ==

The Museum is a home to many important international cultural pieces and notable displays from a collective assemble of over 400 artists. The collection spans from World War II to the present day, incorporating permanent installations by Damien Hirst, Olafur Eliasson, Ai Wei Wei, Ingar Dragset and Michael Elmgreen and Asger Jorn. The museum's collection aims to incorporates two underpinning themes: modern human condition, and art that questions the essential definition of art itself, via new media, mixed-materials and sculptural forms. Selected pieces File:Arken Museum.jpg|"The weight of light / from above / brought to bear on the froth / of the waves of the sea, Lawrence Weiner 2007. File:Best Friends Anselm Reyle.jpg|Best Friends, Anselm Reyle 2012 File:Asger Jorn.jpg|Asger Jorn File:The Third Skin (Friedensreich Hundertwasser) - ARKEN Museum for Moderne Kunst - Ishøj (mei 2014).jpg|The Third Skin, Friedensreich Hundertwasser 2014 File:Anselm Reyle Wagon Wheel.jpg|Wagon Wheel, Anselm Reyle 2009 File:Untitled Anselm Reyle.jpg|Untitled, Anselm Reyle 2010 == Exhibitions ==

The museum holds temporary annual exhibitions– usually thematic or artist-specific– to "safeguard Denmark's cultural heritage." Each exhibition presented notable international artists, exploring the notions of "the good life" in large-scale installations. The exhibition consisted of two parts: Utopia Revisted and Utopian Positions, incorporating solo shows by Qiu Anxiong, Katharina Grosse, and Olafur Eliasson to showcase "the reformulations of utopia in contemporary art." India: Art Now Held between 18 August 2012 to 13 January 2013, India: Art Now was the biggest in Arken's history. It comprised Indian installation art by 13 artists and artist groups with themes of "The Urban Space", "Identity and Everyday Life" and "Self-articulation." The museum displayed large-scale installation of saris, artistic replications of street vendors and high-tech shadow plays. Van Gogh An exhibition held on 1 September 2018, holding 39 works by Vincent van Gogh. It was the first exhibition in over fifty years dedicated to van Gogh's paintings and drawing in Denmark. The exhibition was in collaboration with Kröller-Müller Museum, exclusively focusing on humanity, religion and nature as thematic retrospect on Van Gogh's art. Young Danish Art: Forecasting the Future Young Danish Art: Forecasting the Future was an exhibition from 17 August 2019 to 15 March 2020 comprising an array of sculptures, installations, animated films and structures featuring political and cultural changes in contemporary art. The exhibition presented overarching themes of "work culture, belonging and climate crisis." Frederik Næblerød - All Walks of Life In 2025, the museum presented the most comprehensive exhibition to date dedicated to Frederik Næblerød’s practice. The exhibition attracted a record audience, resulting in a 40 percent increase in museum attendance. Spanning seven galleries, it included ceramics, paintings, bronze sculptures, and a large collage wall with photographs by Frederik Clement, who documented the artist’s life and work over a three-year period. During the exhibition, Næblerød moved his studio into the museum, allowing visitors to observe his creative process. One gallery featured a reconstruction of his total installation My Friend the Wind—a beach house first realized in 2015—rebuilt from recycled materials as the final installation of the exhibition. ==See also==

• "Arken - Museum of Modern Art at Ishøj, Denmark" / Henrik Sten Møller. - in Living architecture, 1997, no. 15, pp. 116–133. • "The Arken Art Museum extension". - in Arkitektur DK, 2008, vol. 52, no. 4, pp 32–38. • ARKEN: The place and the art / edited by Christian Gether ... [et al.]. - Denmark, Arken Museum of Modern Art, 2016.