Per kirkeby brick sculpture lego

The SMK, the National Gallery of Denmark, expands its collection with four brick sculptures by Per Kirkeby.

As one of Denmark’s most important artists Per Kirkeby (b.

1938) is strongly represented at the SMK. With support from the New Carlsberg Foundation, the museum has now acquired the four brick sculptures Kopenhagen I–II(1965/66), EssenVIII (Säulenstumpf) (1977) and Essen IX (Tor) (1977)for its permanent collection.

From object to monument

Today, many of Per Kirkeby’s site-specific brick monuments are present in the public realm.

However, his experiments with the unassuming and ubiquitous material began as early as the 1960s and later became a recurring format in the artist’s practice. Kopenhagen I–II are among Kirkeby’s very first brick sculptures.

Constructed as stelae of loosely stacked bricks, the early sculptures appear as structural studies of the basic conditions of the material. Their serial character and cubic shape reflect thei