Akhøj’s investigations cover long periods of time. He borrows the anthropologists’ and historians’ tools but his commentary targets today’s conditions, and sometimes allows elements of fiction to penetrate the documentary
Kasper Akhøj (born 1976 in Copenhagen, Denmark) studied at the Städelschule in Frankfurt, Germany and at The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen. Kasper Akhøj completed the Whitney Independent Study Program, New York in 2009. Kasper Akhøj’s often essayistic works are characterized by what might be called conceptual storytelling. They are based on his consistent documenting of objects from forgotten art, design and architecture histories, as well as the institutions that harbour them. Akhøj’s investigations cover long periods, and often his processes have an almost organic relationship to time. He borrows from anthropologists’ and historians’ tools but his commentary targets today’s conditions, and sometimes allows elements of fiction to penetrate the documentary. He emphasises the specific and the personal – concrete lived history – and avoids geopolitical simplification. The works become subjective statements, relying on but also challenging historical occurrences.
Future and recent solo exhibitions include Faena Prize (in collaboration with Tamar Guimarães), Faena Foundation Miami and Buenos Aires (2025); Kasper Akhøj & Luke Fowler, Stereo-Exchange, Copenhagen (2023); Welcome (To The Teknival), Ivorypress, Madrid (2018), and Nouveau Musee National de Monaco (2017); I Blew on Mr. Greenhill’s Main Joints with a Very ‘Hot’ Breath (in collaboration with Tamar Guimarães), De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill-On-Sea (2018).
Recent group exhibitions include Landlines/Linhas Fixas, 2112 Gallery, Copenhagen (2024); Free Hands, Den Frie Centre for Contemporary Art, Copenhagen (2023); Høst – en kontrafaktisk udstilling, CHPEA Museum, Herning, and Den Frie Centre for Contemporary Art, Copenhagen (2023); Architecture Sculpture, BOZAR, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels (2021); Lejour des esprit est notre nuit, Centre Regionale d’Art Contemporain CRAC Alsace (2019); Survival Kit Biennial, Riga (2019); Children of Saturn, Musée D’Art Contemporain de Rochechouart (2019).
The work of Kasper Akhøj is found in public collections such as Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid; Frac des Pays de la Loire, Nantes; NMNM-Nouveau Musee National de Monaco; Norman Foster Foundation, Madrid; Musée d’Art Contemporain de Rochechouart.