Arken Museum of Modern Art

Arken opened in 1996 on reclaimed land beside the beach at Ishoj, and the building came out of a competition won by a student, Soren Robert Lund, who was twenty-five: a white concrete deconstructivist structure of angled planes and a long curved main hall called the Art Axis that runs the length of it like a ship's deck. The collection concentrates on Danish and international art since 1990, with strong holdings of Damien Hirst, Olafur Eliasson, Ai Weiwei and the Danish artists of the same generation, and it mounts large temporary shows. The setting is part of the appeal: the museum stands among the dunes just back from the beach, since building on the shore itself was ruled out for conservation reasons, and its terrace and the surrounding dunes are used as sculpture ground in summer.

History

An architectural competition for a new museum of contemporary art south-west of Copenhagen was held in 1988 and won by Søren Robert Lund, and the name Arken, the Ark, came out of the same competition. The idea was to place it on the beach as a maritime building, but because of conservation concerns it was built further back. The museum was inaugurated on 15 March 1996, and it reopened in January 2008 after a major expansion that added half as much gallery space again, designed by Lund with C.F. Møller Architects; between 2005 and 2008 the collection gained works by Damien Hirst, Marc Quinn, Mona Hatoum, Jeppe Hein, Jeff Koons and Elmgreen & Dragset. Each year the museum awards its art prize of 100,000 kroner to a contemporary artist (Wikipedia, Arken Museum of Modern Art).

What to look for

• The Art Axis - a long curved hall running the length of the building.
• Contemporary Danish and international art - Eliasson, Hirst and their contemporaries.
• The beach setting - the museum among the dunes just back from the shore.
• Outdoor sculpture - works set out on the terrace and dunes in summer.

When to go

Year round; the beach setting is better in summer but the museum is an indoor visit. Two to three hours. Closed Mondays. Large temporary exhibitions draw crowds at weekends.

Practical notes

It is a long way out and the walk from the station crosses bleak reclaimed ground. The permanent collection is smaller than the building suggests and much of the space goes to temporary shows. The architecture divides opinion sharply. The cafe is limited.

Nearby

Ishoj beach runs alongside; central Copenhagen is about half an hour by train.

Key facts