Press information
January 2008

The new ARKEN is opening

26 January 2008 the new ARKEN, museum of modern art, is opening. The premiere exhibitions offer new light on the Skagen painters, a solo show with the bright young thing Andreas Golder and not least: A new hanging of ARKEN's Collection, now for the first time exhibited permanently and including a unique Damien Hirst room.

After two and a half years of construction ARKEN can open wide its doors to the new extension. 5,000 m2 of exhibition space will be the end result - twice as much as now, making ARKEN one of Denmark's biggest museums. The new ARKEN will continue the course of shedding new light on the classic modern art. At the same time the focus on contemporary art will be intensified through both special exhibitions and a permanent exhibition of the museum's collection.

New light on the Skagen painters
The Skagen painters - In a New Light is the title of one of ARKEN's inaugural exhibitions. This exhibition presents 136 works by the famed artists, including seven newly restored festive cartoons by P.S. Krøyer, which have never before been on display. Several of the works are privately held, many abroad, and thus rarely available to the public. Others are found in museums outside of Denmark. One of those is Krøyer's famous Hip, Hip, Hurra! Artists' Party (1888). The painting, voted top favourite in an art canon in 2005 by the readers of Berlingske Tidende, usually hangs in the Göteborg Museum of Art. Now for a while it is coming home to Denmark.

International talent in solo show
The museum's new extension will also hold ARKEN's other opening exhibition with the young new talent Andreas Golder. Only 28, Golder is already a fixture in Berlin's vibrant and creative artist milieu. He is regarded as a real wunderkind and is well under way in the art world. However, the ARKEN exhibition is his first solo show in a museum. The Andreas Golder exhibition presents 31 works, including a number of brand new paintings that Golder has painted specially for ARKEN's exhibition.

Unique Damien Hirst room
The new ARKEN now has a total of 5,000 m2 of galleries. This means that ARKEN can show the biggest ever presentation of its collection. One of the high points is a unique Damien Hirst room. Hirst is one the absolutely seminal artists on the international scene of contemporary art. With eight key works, several of them on permanent loan from the Dresing Collection in London, ARKEN's visitors will see a presentation of the artist's works that is unique in Scandinavia. Among the exhibited works is the eight metres long The Four Elements (Who's Afraid of Red, Yellow, Green and Blue) (2005) which consists of four vivid paintings with real butterflies affixed to them.

Further information
Communications manager Christina Bilde, email: bilde@arken.dk, tel.: +45 4357 3410) or communications officer Signe Mølgaard, email: signe.moelgaard@arken.dk, tel.: +45 4347 3409
www.arken.dk