March 16 to May 28, 2012
MKM Museum Küppersmühle for Modern Art

Per Kirkeby, best known as a painter, has created a wide-ranging oeuvre that includes collages, posters, etchings, murals, sculptures, films and books. The exhibition traces this highly productive, albeit less prominent, side of the artist. Another focal point is painting, which is presented retrospectively and with completely new works: On display is a large selection of paintings and works on paper. Trained as a geologist, Kirkeby’s starting point is the observation of forms in nature, which he translates into artistic structures. For him, the world is “material from which one makes art”, whereby the process “deep down cannot be controlled.” The dialog between scientific observation and artistic orientation can be traced directly in many of his works.

Credits: Per Kirkeby, MKM 2012 © Foundation for Art and Culture, Photos: Georg Lukas, Essen