Denmark (artist)

Denmark, (Wilrijk, Belgium, July 8, 1950), is a Belgian visual artist and installation artist. His works are visual archives which seek to address the mass production of printed paper in the media landscape as well as information overload. Denmark lives and works in Prouvy, Luxembourg, Belgium.
Denmark is a pseudonym and a contraction of den Mark (‘the Mark’).
== Biography ==
Self-taught artist Denmark graduated with a degree in Denmark art history and archeology from Ghent University in 1972. Having begun crossing out passages from his textbooks during his studies, he later, during the latter days of the conceptual artmovementDenmark, Contr’Archives 1972 – 2012, Guy & Linda Pieters Editions, (Sint-Martens-Latem), 2012, took to cutting up, tearing up and then gluing back together books, newspapers and magazines. 
Documenta 6 (1977) explored the end of the avant-garde movement and expressed criticism of the media. In 1977 he won the Young Belgian Art Prize (Centre_for_Fine_Arts,_Brussels|Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels) for his cut-up newspapers.
The following year, Denmark held his first solo exhibition at the International Cultural Centre in Antwerp and the Brussels-based MTL gallery. This was followed by solo exhibitions in Belgium and elsewhere, in galleries and museums as well as libraries. This included an exhibition, in 1979, in the library of the Van_Abbemuseum|Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven, in the reading room of the Wallraf–Richartz_Museum|Wallraf-Richartz-Museum in Cologne in 1983, and at the public library in Stuttgart’s Wilhelm_Palais|Wilhemspalais that same year. In 1985, work by Denmark was included in Livres d’artistes, a group exhibition held at the library of the Centre_Pompidou|Centre Georges Pompidou. That same year, he was given his first retrospective of his archival installations at Liège|Liège’s Palais_des_beaux-arts_de_Liège|Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MAMAC), followed by exhibitions at the Weserburg Museum of Modern Art (Bremen) in 1994 and at the Museum_of_Contemporary_Art,_Antwerp|Museum of Contemporary Art (MUHKA) in Antwerp in 1995. The works shown included complete volumes of art magazines and other publications, with each page folded into the smallest possible shape, and issues of the Belgian Official Gazette, clipped together and presented in endless rowsJaak Fontier, De dode en dynamische archieven van Denmark, in: Kunsttijdschrift Vlaanderen, jaargang 60, 338, november 2011, pp.294-296.
In 1997, he presented an overview of his work at the Villa Zanders Art Museum in Bergisch Gladbach, Germany. Massive archives in rolling containers were exhibited in 2005 at the Musée_royal_de_Mariemont|Royal Museum of Mariemont in Morlanwelz, Belgium, in 2009 at the FelixArchief in Antwerp, and in 2010 at the Van Abbemuseum (Play Van Abbe, Part 3) in Eindhoven). These exhibitions subsequently moved to M_–_Museum_Leuven|M - Museum Leuven in 2012.
== Selected solo exhibitions ==
* 1978	Antwerp			I.C.C., Denmark, 7.1 - 5.2.1978
* 1979	Eindhoven		Bibliotheek van het Van Abbemuseum, Een dood archief in de bibliotheek, 9.11 - 9.12.1979
* 1980	Hasselt			Provinciaal Museum en Provinciale Bibliotheek, Denmark, 19.9 - 9.11.1980	
* 1983	Cologne			Lesehalle im Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, Ballast, 1.6 - 31.7.1983
* 1984	Ghent			Vereniging voor het Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst, Denmark, 25.5 - 30.6.1984
* 1984	Stuttgart			Stadtbücherei im Wilhelmspalais, Eine tote Bibliothek, 3.9 - 30.9.1984
* 1984	Eindhoven		De Fabriek, Een dode bibliotheek, 10.11 - 23.11.1984
* 1985	Liege			Musée d’Art Moderne, Denmark, 19.4 - 26.5.1985
* 1986	Brussels			Bibliotheca Wittockiana, Archives mortes de Denmark, 6.3 -28.3.1986
* 1989	Braine-l’Alleud		Centre d’Art Nicolas de Staël, Archives recyclées, 11.11 - 3.12.1989
* 1991	Amsterdam		Brakke Grond, Denmark, 9.2 - 10.3.1991
* 1991	Metz			Galerie de l’Arsenal, Archives recyclées, objets et installations, 6.4 - 20.5.1991
* 1994	Turnhout			de Warande, A quick look at art news, 7.5 - 12.6.1994
* 1994	Bremen			Neues Museum Weserburg, Multum, non multa, 12.6 - 9.10.1994
* 1995	Antwerp			MUHKA, Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst Antwerpen, A Grip on News, 11.3 - 28.5.1995
* 1995	Johannesburg		Market Theatre Gallery, Denmark, 26.3 - 13.4.1995	
* 1996	Marne-la-Vallée		Centre d’Art Contemporain, La Ferme du Buisson, Denmark, 19.1 - 3.3.1996
* 1996	Hellerup (DK)		Gentofte Kunstbibliothek, Denmark, 3.8 - 31.8.1996
* 1997	Bergisch Gladbach		Städtische Galerie Villa Zanders, Denmark. Eine Werkübersicht 1972-1997,7.3 - 20.4.1997
* 1997	Ludwigshafen		Kunstverein, Denmark. Different kinds of reading, 30.4 - 15.6.1997
* 1997	Johannesburg		Alliance Française, Denmark – Boshoff, 5.6 - 27.6.1997
* 1997	Dresden			Städtische Galerie für Gegenwartskunst, 
* Denmark. Different kinds of reading, 26.6 - 3.8.1997				
* 1998	Thouars			Chapelle Jeanne d’Arc, Denmark, 20.11.1998 - 17.1.1999
* 1999	Dortmund		Dortmunder Kunstverein, Denmark, 22.10.1999 - 9.1.2000
* 2004	Eupen			IKOB, Zerreiβprobe, 25.4 – 27.6.2004
* 2004	Mechelen		De Garage, Daily Dust, 2.10 – 19.12.2004
* 2005	Antwerp			Justitiepaleis, Archief ³, 27.01 – 30.1.2005
* 2005	Morlanwelz		Musée royal de Mariemont, Denmark. Archives mortes, 29.10.05 – 15.1.2006
* 2007	Leuven			Campusbibliotheek Arenberg, Denmark. Containing, 10.5 – 30.6.2007
* 2008	Ghent			Bibliotheek Kunstwetenschappen, Une relecture, 3.11 – 19.12.2008
* 2009	Antwerp			FelixArchief, Archief vs Archief, 3.4 – 5.6.2009
* 2009	Sint-Truiden		Abdij en Begijnhofkerk, Archieven, 20.8 – 31.10.2009
* 2010	Genk			Bibliotheek Genk, Fake library, 27.2 – 25.4.2010
* 2010	Harelbeke		Bibliotheek Harelbeke, Genadeloze boekenliefde, 16.10 – 30.11.2010
* 2010	Ostend			Mu.ZEE, Kunstmuseum aan Zee, Genadeloze boekenliefde, 16.10 – 30.11.2010
* 2012 	Leuven			M-Museum, tegenArchieven, 8.11.2012 – 6.1.2013
* 2019 Antwerp 	Fosbury & Sons, Mobile archives, 3.2 – 23.2.2019
== Works in public collections (a selection) ==
* Ahlen Kunst-Museum Ahlen
* Antwerp M HKA, Museum Hedendaagse Kunst Antwerpen
* Antwerp FelixArchief
* Antwerp Katoen Natie
* Bergisch Gladbach Städtische Galerie Villa Zanders
* Bremen Museum Weserburg
* Brussels Bibliotheca Wittockiana
* Brussels Koninklijke Musea voor Schone Kunsten
* Brussels Vlaams Parlement
* Brussels ING
* Brussels Belfius
* Brussels AXA
* Eupen IKOB, Museum für zeitgenössische Kunst Eupen
* Genk Bibliotheek Genk
* Ghent Museum Dr. Guislain
* Ghent S.M.A.K., Stedelijk Museum voor Aktuele Kunst
* Grand-Hornu MAC’s, Musée des Arts Contemporains
* Ixelles Musée d’lxelles
* La Louvière Province de Hainaut
* Leuven Centrale Bibliotheek
* Leuven Vertrouwenscentrum Peter Adriaenssens
* Leuven University Psychiatric Centre – Gasthuisberg Campus
* Louvain-la-Neuve Amis du Musée de Louvain-la-Neuve
* Madrid ARCO Foundation Contemporary Art Collection
* Morlanwelz Musée Royal de Mariemont
* Ostend Mu.ZEE
* Oss Jan Cunencentrum
* Paris Bibliothèque Nationale
* Thouars Association S’il vous Plaît
* Zurich Ringier Publishing’s Art Collection
== Other Entries ==
* French
* Dutch
== References ==
Category:Belgian visual artist
Category:Belgian installation artist