Esben Weile Kjær Opens First Solo Museum Exhibition at Kunsten Museum of Modern Art Aalborg

The exhibition opens on 10 October 2024.

This autumn, Kunsten Museum of Modern Art Aalborg will open the first major solo exhibition in a museum of the work of the Danish contemporary artist, Esben Weile Kjær.

The exhibition Solar System will present a frightening, yet beautiful dystopia, featuring sinister creatures and traces of a bygone era – with a startling mixture of archaeology, futurism and unashamed glam.

“Esben Weile Kjær’s work mixes pop culture and kitsch with current societal issues such as gender, psychology and climate. The exhibition will inspire reflection on the collapse of societies and social ideologies both past and future. We shouldn’t be bedazzled by all the music and the mega shiny sculptures; his work is far more than merely attractive,” says Søs Bech Sharpe, staff curator at Kunsten and the curator of this exhibition.

A collapse of the world as we know it – with a glimmer of hope

Esben Weile Kjær (b. 1992) graduated from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in 2022. At an early stage in his work, he made a name for himself as a performance artist. However, in this exhibition at Kunsten Museum of Modern Art Aalborg he is returning to the genre he studied – sculpture. A single, total installation will feature a variety of sculptures.

“For example, I have created a huge neon sun that will glow above a brutal, fragmented landscape, and three gigantic epoxy diamonds filled with jeweller, silver cutlery, key rings and glitter. There is also a bronze sculpture that combines insect and cartoon characters,” says Esben Weile Kjær, whose works draw inspiration from icons and references from his own childhood and youth in the 1990s and early 00s.

“Solar System expresses a collapse of the world as we know it as a result of wars and climate crisis. However, in the midst of all the rawness and destruction, there’s hope for the future. In the wake of collapse, something new emerges – maybe even something beautiful,” he explains.

Synthetic contrasts to Aalto’s Scandinavian architecture

The only human in the exhibition is a young skater surfing on a UFO, all prepared to leave behind the world below. Visitors to this year’s Heartland Festival will already have seen the work in the moat that surrounds Egeskov Castle.

Esben Weile Kjær has made all the other works especially for this exhibition, consciously aiming to create contrasts to Alvar Aalto’s Scandinavian architecture and the simple, yet grand marble surfaces of the museum.

The exhibition will be located in the very heart of the museum with its high ceilings, generous skylights and shiny marble floors.

“It has been important for me to make the architecture of Kunsten even more evident by using some synthetic pop contrasts. This creates a contrast between Scandinavian good taste and my works, which reflect a more synthetic consumer culture,” explains the artist, who found particular inspiration for the exhibition in NYC, where he spent five months last year.

Practical Information

The exhibition at Kunsten Museum of Modern Art Aalborg will run from 10 October 2024 to 23 February 2025.

Read more about the exhibition here.

About Esben Weile Kjær

Esben Weile Kjær (b. 1992) graduated from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in 2022. Even at this early stage of his career, he has made a name for himself on the Danish art scene, and an international career now awaits him.

He has already presented his performances at a number of renowned cultural institutions: for example, the Pompidou Centre (Paris), Mumok (Vienna), Museum Tinguely (Basel) and numerous Danish venues.

His solo exhibitions at Copenhagen Contemporary and Gl. Strand in Copenhagen, and his curation of the collection-based exhibition BUTTERFLY! at Arken Museum of Contemporary Art proved how his captivating, powerful total installations can conquer large spaces.