Photo by: Lasse Dearman
ESBEN WEILE KJÆR
Esben Weile Kjær, born 1992, graduated from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in 2022. He also has a background as a DJ and a degree in Music Management from the Rhythmic Music Conservatory (RMC). In his performances, installations and sculptures, he examines identity among his own generation and explores the role of popular culture and technology in determining our experience of community and freedom. Esben Weile Kjær has had several solo shows, including at Kunstforeningen GL STRAND and at Copenhagen Contemporary, and has shown his works internationally at Museum Tinguely in Basel, Centre Pompidou in Paris, Mumok in Vienna and Berghain in Berlin. Esben Weile Kjær’s exhibition BUTTERFLY! is on view now at Arken – Museum of Modern Art in Denmark. In 2022, he received the Carl Nielsen and Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen Foundation’s talent award.
EDUCATION
2016-2022 The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts - Schools of visual arts
2021-2022 Städelschule, Fine Art, Frankfurt am Main
2012-2015 The Danish Rhythmic Music Conservatory - Music Management
REPRESENTED IN THE PERMANENT AND PUBLIC COLLECTIONS OF:
Arken Museum of Contemporary Art, Denmark
Brandts Museum of Modern Art, Denmark
Malmo Art Museum, Sweden
PRIZES:
Carl Nielsen & Anne Marie Carl-Nielsens Foundation Talent Award
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2025
Rudolph Tegner Museum and Statue Park, Dronningmølle, Denmark (upcoming)
Rønnebæksholm, Næstved, Denmark (upcoming)
2024
Kunsten - Museum of Modern Art, Aalborg, Denmark (upcoming)
Salzburg Kunstverein, Salzburg, Austria (upcoming)
2023
I WANT TO BELIEVE, Albion Juene and !80 Strand, London (upcoming)
Light Dancer, Inter.pblc, Copenhagen, Denmark
2022
HYPER!, BFI Miami, Miami, USA
Keep it Real, Magic Stop, Lausanne, Austria
Complete Collapse, Andersen’s, Copenhagen, Denmark
2021
Anxiety of influence, with Yvette Brackman, Four Boxes, Skive, Denmark
Hardcore Freedom Revisited, Curated by, Vienna, Austria
Letters for Julian Luxford, Kunsthal Aarhus BBC, Frederiksberg. Art Sonje Center, Seoul, South Korea
Public Drama, Magasin du Nord, Copenhagen, Denmark
Advertise, Hypnotise, Traumatise, FABRIKKEN for Kunst og Design Afd. AC, Copenhagen, Denmark
2020
Hardcore Freedom, Copenhagen Contemporary - Copenhagen
Power Play, Kunstforeningen GL STRAND - Copenhagen
Campaign, Museum of Contemporary Art, Roskilde (Forthcoming)
2019
Dance with the devil, Vestjyllands Art Pavilion, Videbæk
2017
Club Gluttony, UB ART, Stockholm
2016
How to Neo-tribe?, Souvinir Official , Berlin
You can’t fake this monument of movement, Politikens Forhal, Copenhagen
Radical Togetherness, Oslo10, Basel
CURATORIAL WORK
2023
BUTTERFLY! - Arkens collection curated by Esben Weile Kjær, Arken, Museum of Modern Art, Ishøj, Denmark
2018
Alt_Cph – Over-existing, with Anna Weile Kjær, FABRIKKEN for Kunst og Design, Copenhagen, Denmark
2017
Institut for Success 2; with Mira Winding, Dina Friemuth, Anna Weile Kjær, Jeppe Ugelvig, Maja Malou Lyse, and Anne Sofie Madsen, SMK – National Gallery of Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark
2016
Institut for Succes 1, Kunstforeningen GL STRAND, Copenhagen, Denmark
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023
Charlottenborg Biennalen, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen, Denmark
Public Announcement, Museum of Contemporary Art, Roskilde, Denmark
Den Store Springvand Udstilling, Kunsthal 6100, Haderslev, Denmark
2022
Another Surrealism, Tønder, Museum of Modern Art, Tønder, Denmark
Jeg står op med jordens mylder, Kunst Ø, Samsø, Denmark
Another Surrealisme, Den Frie Centre of Contemporary Art, Copenhagen, Denmark
Move, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
Bang Bang, Museum Tinguely, Basel, Switzerland
Afgang, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen, Denmark
The Clown Kingdom, House of Denmark, Paris, France
2021
Forever Mall, Shoot The Lobster, Los Angeles, US
MONSTERSUPPE, KØS Museum of Art in Public spaces, Køge, DK
2020
Moving Centers, GAS / Frieze Art Fair, Los Angeles (Upcoming)
Ghosthouse, Den Frie Centre of Contemporary Art, Copenhagen (Upcoming)
Wearables, Etage Projects - Copenhagen
2019
Window Shopper, CHART Art Fair - Copenhagen
Mellemting mellem ting, Den Frie Centre of Contemporary Art - Copenhagen
Tending Towards, Tinos Quarry Platform / Museum of modern queer art - Tinos / Athens
Ulvetime, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen, DK
2018
Jugend ist Trunkenheit ohne Wein, Bikini Space - Basel
Kunstnernes Påskeudstilling 2018, Kunsthal Århus - Aarhus
2017
NO REGRETS of tomorrows SORROWS, Future Suburban Contemporary - Copenhagen
Anybody - Århus 2017 - Århus
LAST MINUTE BUSINESS - Adult - Copenhagen
2016
SOMEDAY A REAL RAIN WILL COME AND WASH ALL THE SCUM OFF THE STREETS - Nordic Contemporary - Paris
Closest Thing to Wearing Nothing - M.I - Berlin
2015
Mørkekammer - Vandrehallen - Hillerød
PERFORMANCES
2024
Museum der Moderne, Salzburg, Austria (upcoming)
2023
BURN!, Mumok, Vienna, Austria
DE-ESCALATE, Basel Social Club, Basel, Switzerland
HYPER!, Copenhagen Business School, Copenhagen, Denmark
2022
The Big Gang Bang Theory w Maja Malou Lyse, Art in a day, Copenhagen, Denmark
COLLIDER, New Carlsberg Foundation, Folkemødet, Bornholm, Denmark
Night Journeys, Berghain, Berlin, Germany
Night Journeys, Den Frie Centre of Contemporary Art, Copenhagen, Denmark
Sun!, Voo store, Berlin, Germany
2021
Departure in affection, Marienlyst Castle, Elsinore, DK
Entertainment Architecture, Aarhus School of Architecture, Aarhus, DK
The Big Gang Bang Theory, with Maja Malou Lyse, Another map to Nevada, Copenhagen’s Waterways, Den Frie Centre of Contemporary Art, Copenhagen, DK
BURN!, Kunsten Museum of Modern Art, Aalborg, DK
BURN!, Gallery Steinsland Berliner, Stockholm, SE
2020
Pride is temporary, Gegenwart, Hamburg, DE
ALL OVER THE PLACE, with Emma Rosenzweig, UP CLOSE Performance Festival, Det Classenske Bibliotek, the New Carlsberg Foundation, Copenhagen, DK
2019
Have you ever been afraid, Den Frie Centre of Contemporary Art, Copenhagen, DK
Have you ever been afraid, Paris Internationale, Paris, FR
Have you ever been afraid, Athens Museum of Queer Arts, Athens, GR
BURN!, DR (Danish Broadcasting Corporation), Copenhagen, DK
BURN!, Copenhagen International Fashion Fair, Copenhagen, DK
BURN!, SMK –National Gallery of Denmark, Copenhagen, DK
Pride is temporary, Ashley Berlin, Berlin, DE
Pride is temporary, Vestjyllands Kunstpavillon, Videbæk, DK
Born to be wild, HC Andersen Festival, Odense, DK
2018
Sun!, Kunstforeningen GL STRAND, Copenhagen, DK
Sun!, Code Art Fair, Copenhagen, DK
Sun!, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen, DK
Sun!, KBH Litteratur Festival, Skive, DK
We built this city, KØS Museum of Art in Public Spaces, Køge, DK
We built this city, Axel Arigato, Copenhagen, DK
Who needs guitars anyway, with Anne Sofie Madsen, Blake and Vargas, Berlin, DE
2017
EVIG!, with Madeleine Kate McGowan, ARoS Aarhus Art Museum, Aarhus, DK
Level of glamour, with Anne Sofie Madsen, The Italian Embassy, Copenhagen, DK
Never have i ever, Age of Aquarius, Copenhagen, DK
My heart beats faster than techno, DanseAtelier, Copenhagen, DK
2016
You can’t fake this monument of movement, Copenhagen Contemporary, Copenhagen, DK
How to Neo-tribe?, Tranen Space for Contemporary Art, Hellerup, DK
i wish i was a punkrocker with flowers in my hair, Karlin Studios, Prague, CZ
This could be identification for new subcultures, Overgaden – Institute for Contemporary Art, Copenhagen, DK
This could be identification for new subcultures, M.I, Berlin, DE
ATHEN, Den Frie Centre of Contemporary Art, Copenhagen, DK
2015
Reality, Den Frie Centre of Contemporary Art, Copenhagen, DK
2014
Birthday Bash, Nikolaj Kunsthal, Copenhagen, DK
Film festivals
2021
Industries of freedom, with Freja Sofie Kirk, CPH_DOX, Copenhagen, DK
Industries of freedom, with Freja Sofie Kirk, Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin, FR/DE