KØS Museum of art in public spaces
Denmark’s museum for public art
As Denmark’s only museum for public art, KØS collects sketches, scale models, and a variety of other preliminary works for the art that is placed or takes place in public spaces in Denmark. These are artworks that many feel ownership of because they are close to us in everyday life, and therefore are often the subject of wonder, discussion, disapproval, and interest among local users.
The finished works are typically placed permanently somewhere out there, unless they take place as temporary projects that over a period occur in more or less direct interaction with the audience. The works themselves therefore do not form part of the museum’s collection, which instead through drawings, watercolors, and models in plaster, clay, paper, and wood or in the form of project descriptions, notes and sketches, films and photos etc., shows the quality of and the range in the country’s publicly placed works.
The collection’s often impressive sketch sequences, which typically can accommodate many phases in the artistic creation process - from early, loose drafts to gradually more detailed studies and composition sketches to final, thoroughly worked templates and working drawings - can be studied when the museum shows collection exhibitions.
The Queen’s tapestries
The main works in the museum’s collection are visual artist Bjørn Nørgaard’s extensive sketch material for Queen Margrethe II’s tapestries, which she received as a gift from Danish Business in 2000. The sketch material for the 10-year-long work process consists of 11 colorful cartoons in full size with a wealth of historical motifs.
Changing collection exhibitions The KØS Collection is regularly shown in collection exhibitions at the museum and typically consists of a mix of new acquisitions and known works from the collection. Read about our current exhibitions here. The collection consists of more than 18,000 unique sketches, models and preliminary works for art in public spaces and an archive that documents processes and conflicts around art in public spaces. Selections from the collection are regularly exhibited at the museum and activated in KØS’ teaching, just as artists are periodically invited to engage in dialogue with the KØS collection and KØS as an institution.
Explore indoors over three floors or outside on the artistic forecourt by visual artist Ann Lislegaard.
Combine the visit with a trip to the KØS Café and the museum shop with exclusive design items.
Free guided tour the first Sunday of every month."
Current exhibitions:
TO MOVE AND BE MOVED by Iván Argote, June 21st to November 17th 2024
Step into a realm where public spaces are reimagined, power structures challenged, and narratives rewritten. TO MOVE AND BE MOVED by world-renowned visual artist Iván Argote invites you to question the nature of public urban spaces and their complex power dynamics.
Public spaces can evoke a myriad of emotions when we navigate them: from a sense of belonging to a feeling of injustice. Visual artist Iván Argote has dedicated his career to exploring human relationships with public urban spaces and their power structures through a body of works – from bold interventions and playful actions to performative gestures, sculptures, films, and installations.
Bjørn Nørgaard’s sketches for the Queen’s tapestries
In 2001, KØS acquired visual artist Bjørn Nørgaard’s 1:1 cartons for the Queen’s tapestries, which can be experienced in the Tapestry Hall on the 3rd floor of the museum. With an enormous wealth of detail and a vivid color palette, Bjørn Nørgaard has depicted 1,000 years of Danish history in the form of 17 tapestries that stretches from the age of the Vikings through the Middle Ages and the Reformation through the dictatorship and World War II to our time and the future. Through a multitude of events, people and symbols, Bjørn Nørgaard presents his view of the course of history, where Danish history intertwines with world history, religious history and the history of art and culture. Meet a diverse gallery of people who have all left their distinct mark on history – from Jeanne D’Arc and Niels Bohr to John F. Kennedy and Karen Blixen.
Related Attractions
Opening Hours
02.01.2024 - 23.12.2024:Monday: closed
Tuesday: 11:00 - 17:00
Wednesday: 11:00 - 17:00
Thursday: 11:00 - 17:00
Friday: 11:00 - 17:00
Saturday: 11:00 - 17:00
Sunday: 11:00 - 17:00
Location
Nørregade 29
4600 Køge
Café
Wheelchair Accessible