Музей современного искусства Аркен: История и архитектура

ARKEN Museum of Modern Art (ARKEN Museum for Moderne Kunst) is a state authorised private non profit charity and contemporary art museum in Ishøj, near Copenhagen. The museum is among Denmark's major contemporary and modern art collections, holding a variety of international cultural works and exhibitions. The museum was designed by Søren Robert Lund and was authorised by Copenhagen County. It was inaugurated on 15 March 1996 and was conceived by Queen Margrethe. Arken Museum of Modern Art's collection contains major works of over 400 Danish, Scandinavian and International post war art. The museum re opened in January 2008 after major refurbishing, which included an expansion providing an additional 50% of gallery space.

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.

Arken underwent two major renovation and expansion projects, designed by original architect Søren Robert Lund alongside C. F. Møller Architects. The museum encompassed permanent collections and donations of works from 2005 2008 by Damien Hirst, Marc Quinn, Mona Hatoum, Jeppe Hein, Jeff Koons and Elmgreen & Dragset. 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.

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.

Since its inauguration in 1966, 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.

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.

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." 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. 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."

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.

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 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."