Jeppe Hein
Encyclopedia
Jeppe Hein is an artist based in Berlin
and Copenhagen
. Hein is widely known for his production of experiential and interactive
artworks that can be positioned at the junction where art, architecture, and technical inventions intersect. Notable in their formal simplicity and frequent use of humor, his sculpture
s and installations
engage in a lively dialogue with the traditions of Minimalism
and Conceptual art
of the 1970s. Hein’s works often feature surprising and captivating elements which place spectators at the centre of events and focus on their experience and perception of the surrounding space.
between 1997 and 2003 and at the Städelschule
in Frankfurt
between 1999 and 2000 (while registered as an associate student of the Danish Academy). As a student Hein was co-founder of OTTO, a non-commercial organisation which organised art exhibitions at various venues in Denmark between 1997 and 2000.
Other works deal with the viewer's perception of the gallery space. In Moving Bench #2 (2000), museum seating is programmed when sat upon to carry the visitor the length of the gallery space. Changing Space (2003) is a wall that slowly moves through the gallery room. The movement is too slow to perceive at first glance, but is noticed more and more as the wall are closing in on the spectator. The white surface blends perfectly in with the surrounding walls, placing the work in a cross point between sculpture, architecture and installation art. Field of Visions (2005) is a six-angled box mounted on a steel structure. On each of the six sides, a hole is cut out for the visitor to look into. Contrary to what instinct suggests, the viewers are not able to see through to the opposite hole. A mirror has, in fact, been placed diagonally inside the box, so that the viewer instead looks out of the holes on the left or right of him or her.
Hein has created a series of dysfunctional Modified Social Benches: Modified Social Bench C (2007) is entirely circular, with the seating beyond easy reach on the inside; the seat of Modified Social Bench A (2006) is jacked up on a hydraulic spring and needs to be pushed down if one is to sit down. The functional surface of Modified Social Bench E (2006) looks as though it has melted and drooped onto the ground. During the summer of 2009, Hein placed ten of these benches throughout the city of Aarhus. Envisioned as one long bench that emerges from the ground, twists, turns and submerges again, and forming a circuit around a lake, Bench Around the Lake is a series of 15 vivid yellow benches along the bordering bank of the White River
. Hein envisions the installation. Other benches are permanently located in, among others, the Montenmedio Sculpture Park, Cadiz, Spain; Miami and Helsinki.
In the summer of 2006 Hein installed Appearing Walls, an aquatic pavilion, at London's South Bank outside the Royal Festival Hall
, enclosing visitors behind walls of water that rose and fell at random. In 2008, he collaborated with Dan Graham
on a temporary pavilion in Cologne.
At Houghton Hall
in Norfolk
, the Marquess of Cholmondeley
commissioned an "artlandish" folly
in a scale appropriate for a five-acre walled garden. Hein created a site-specific outdoor sculpture for this space. In all seasons, this jet of water surmounted by a ball of flame illustrates a 21st century folly on a smaller scale than other contemporary land art
pieces in the parkland outside the garden enclosure. The work is intended "to surprise viewers and make them question what they are seeing." Hein wants to elicit
Between September 2009 and January 2010, Hein stayed at Alexander Calder
’s studio in Saché
, France, as a part of an artist in residence programme.
, a bar and restaurant in Copenhagen
featuring site-specific artworks by international artists, which he founded with his sister Lærke Hein.
(2010); Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts
; ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum
, Århus (2009); Sculpture Center
, New York; and P.S.1 MOMA, New York (2004). He has participated in solo and group exhibitions at Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver; Tate Modern, London; Barbican Art Centre, London (2007); Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; MOCA, Los Angeles; and 50th Venice Biennale
(2003). Catalogues of Hein's work have been published by ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum, Musée d'art contemporain de Nimes, Koenig Books, Villa Manin, and the Centre Pompidou. Hein lives and works in Berlin.
He is represented by Johann König in Berlin, 303 Gallery in New York, Galleri Nicolai Wallner in Copenhagen and SCAI - The Bathhouse in Tokyo.
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
and Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
. Hein is widely known for his production of experiential and interactive
Interactive art
Interactive art is a form of installation-based art that involves the spectator in a way that allows the art to achieve its purpose. Some installations achieve this by letting the observer or visitor "walk" in, on, and around them; Some others ask the artist to become part of the artwork.Works of...
artworks that can be positioned at the junction where art, architecture, and technical inventions intersect. Notable in their formal simplicity and frequent use of humor, his sculpture
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
s and installations
Installation art
Installation art describes an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that are often site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space. Generally, the term is applied to interior spaces, whereas exterior interventions are often called Land art; however, the boundaries between...
engage in a lively dialogue with the traditions of Minimalism
Minimalism
Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is set out to expose the essence, essentials or identity of a subject through eliminating all non-essential forms, features or concepts...
and Conceptual art
Conceptual art
Conceptual art is art in which the concept or idea involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic and material concerns. Many of the works, sometimes called installations, of the artist Sol LeWitt may be constructed by anyone simply by following a set of written instructions...
of the 1970s. Hein’s works often feature surprising and captivating elements which place spectators at the centre of events and focus on their experience and perception of the surrounding space.
Education
Hein studied at the Royal Danish Academy of ArtRoyal Danish Academy of Art
The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts has provided a practice-oriented complement to the scholarly investigation of the arts carried out at Danish universities for more than 250 years, playing a crucial part in the development of the distinctive tradition of the art of Denmark.- History :The Royal...
between 1997 and 2003 and at the Städelschule
Städelschule
Städelschule, Staatliche Hochschule für Bildende Künste, is a contemporary fine arts academy in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.- History :The Städelschule was established by a foundation set up by the Frankfurt merchant Johann Friedrich Städel in 1817...
in Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
between 1999 and 2000 (while registered as an associate student of the Danish Academy). As a student Hein was co-founder of OTTO, a non-commercial organisation which organised art exhibitions at various venues in Denmark between 1997 and 2000.
Work
Motion in the form of fountains, light sculptures or other (aesthetic) things together with interaction, is at the center of Hein's work. His early works include labyrinths in various media (including mazes made of mirrors or motion-triggered sound) and sculptures that refuse to be static: they emit smoke and fire (Smoking Bench (2003) and Burning Cube (2005)), or are programmed to vibrate or jump when approached (Independent Pedestal (2002), Shaking Cube (2004), and Walking Cube (2004)).Other works deal with the viewer's perception of the gallery space. In Moving Bench #2 (2000), museum seating is programmed when sat upon to carry the visitor the length of the gallery space. Changing Space (2003) is a wall that slowly moves through the gallery room. The movement is too slow to perceive at first glance, but is noticed more and more as the wall are closing in on the spectator. The white surface blends perfectly in with the surrounding walls, placing the work in a cross point between sculpture, architecture and installation art. Field of Visions (2005) is a six-angled box mounted on a steel structure. On each of the six sides, a hole is cut out for the visitor to look into. Contrary to what instinct suggests, the viewers are not able to see through to the opposite hole. A mirror has, in fact, been placed diagonally inside the box, so that the viewer instead looks out of the holes on the left or right of him or her.
Hein has created a series of dysfunctional Modified Social Benches: Modified Social Bench C (2007) is entirely circular, with the seating beyond easy reach on the inside; the seat of Modified Social Bench A (2006) is jacked up on a hydraulic spring and needs to be pushed down if one is to sit down. The functional surface of Modified Social Bench E (2006) looks as though it has melted and drooped onto the ground. During the summer of 2009, Hein placed ten of these benches throughout the city of Aarhus. Envisioned as one long bench that emerges from the ground, twists, turns and submerges again, and forming a circuit around a lake, Bench Around the Lake is a series of 15 vivid yellow benches along the bordering bank of the White River
White River (Indiana)
The White River is a two-forked river that flows through central and southern Indiana and is the main tributary to the Wabash River. Via the west fork, considered to be the main stem of the river by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, the White River is long.-West Fork:The West Fork, long, is...
. Hein envisions the installation. Other benches are permanently located in, among others, the Montenmedio Sculpture Park, Cadiz, Spain; Miami and Helsinki.
In the summer of 2006 Hein installed Appearing Walls, an aquatic pavilion, at London's South Bank outside the Royal Festival Hall
Royal Festival Hall
The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,900-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge. It is a Grade I listed building - the first post-war building to become so protected...
, enclosing visitors behind walls of water that rose and fell at random. In 2008, he collaborated with Dan Graham
Dan Graham
Dan Graham , is a conceptual artist now working out of New York City. He is an influential figure in the field of contemporary art, both a practitioner of conceptual art and an art critic and theorist. His art career began in 1964 when he moved to New York and opened the John Daniels Gallery....
on a temporary pavilion in Cologne.
At Houghton Hall
Houghton Hall
Houghton Hall is a country house in Norfolk, England. It was built for the de facto first British Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole, and it is a key building in the history of Palladian architecture in England...
in Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
, the Marquess of Cholmondeley
David Cholmondeley, 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley
David George Philip Cholmondeley, 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley, KCVO, DL , was styled from birth Viscount Malpas until 1968, and subsequently Earl of Rocksavage until 1990...
commissioned an "artlandish" folly
Folly
In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but either suggesting by its appearance some other purpose, or merely so extravagant that it transcends the normal range of garden ornaments or other class of building to which it belongs...
in a scale appropriate for a five-acre walled garden. Hein created a site-specific outdoor sculpture for this space. In all seasons, this jet of water surmounted by a ball of flame illustrates a 21st century folly on a smaller scale than other contemporary land art
Land art
Land art, Earthworks , or Earth art is an art movement which emerged in the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s, in which landscape and the work of art are inextricably linked...
pieces in the parkland outside the garden enclosure. The work is intended "to surprise viewers and make them question what they are seeing." Hein wants to elicit
- "... an incongruous dialogue between the art and the viewer and to use humour to broaden the limits of conceptual art. I want to show that the work isn’t anything on its own, it is only what the public informs it with. The viewers’ role brings the piece to the centre of attention."
Between September 2009 and January 2010, Hein stayed at Alexander Calder
Alexander Calder
Alexander Calder was an American sculptor and artist most famous for inventing mobile sculptures. In addition to mobile and stable sculpture, Alexander Calder also created paintings, lithographs, toys, tapestry, jewelry and household objects.-Childhood:Alexander "Sandy" Calder was born in Lawnton,...
’s studio in Saché
Saché, Indre-et-Loire
Saché is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France.-See also:*Communes of the Indre-et-Loire department...
, France, as a part of an artist in residence programme.
Karriere Bar
Hein is co-founder of Karriere BarKarriere Bar
Karriere Bar is a bar and restaurant in the Meatpacking District of Copenhagen, Denmark, co-founded by Berlin-based, Danish artist Jeppe Hein in 2007. The establishment features interactive and Site-specific art by various international artists. Co-founded by Danish artist Jeppe Hein, it opened in...
, a bar and restaurant in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
featuring site-specific artworks by international artists, which he founded with his sister Lærke Hein.
Exhibitions
Hein has had solo exhibitions at the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa; and Art Tower, Mito; the Neues Museum, Nürnberg; Indianapolis Museum of ArtIndianapolis Museum of Art
The Indianapolis Museum of Art is an encyclopedic art museum located in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. The museum, which underwent a $74 million expansion in 2005, is located on a campus on the near northwest area outside downtown Indianapolis, northwest of Crown Hill Cemetery.The...
(2010); Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts
Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts
Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts is a contemporary visual and performance arts venue located in Perth, Western Australia.-History:...
; ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum
ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum
ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum is an art museum in Aarhus. ARoS is one of the largest art museums in northern Europe, 10 storeys tall with a total of 17,000 m². The museum opened on 8 April 2004 after a construction process that started with Danish architects schmidt hammer lassen winning the design...
, Århus (2009); Sculpture Center
SculptureCenter
SculptureCenter is a contemporary art museum that is located in Long Island City in the borough of Queens in New York City.-Mission:Founded by artists in 1928, SculptureCenter is a not-for-profit arts institution dedicated to experimental and innovative developments in contemporary sculpture...
, New York; and P.S.1 MOMA, New York (2004). He has participated in solo and group exhibitions at Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver; Tate Modern, London; Barbican Art Centre, London (2007); Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; MOCA, Los Angeles; and 50th Venice Biennale
Venice Biennale
The Venice Biennale is a major contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every two years in Venice, Italy. The Venice Film Festival is part of it. So too is the Venice Biennale of Architecture, which is held in even years...
(2003). Catalogues of Hein's work have been published by ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum, Musée d'art contemporain de Nimes, Koenig Books, Villa Manin, and the Centre Pompidou. Hein lives and works in Berlin.
He is represented by Johann König in Berlin, 303 Gallery in New York, Galleri Nicolai Wallner in Copenhagen and SCAI - The Bathhouse in Tokyo.