Jeppe Hein

Over two decades, Jeppe Hein (b. 1974, Copenhagen, Denmark) has created sculptures and installations that question the traditional relationship between artwork and spectator. Often taking the form of interventions in public spaces, his installations merge the conceptual with the experiential, and are activated by viewers’ participation. In Hein’s work, seemingly simple and familiar media—text, mirrors, water, brushstrokes, and common utilitarian and decorative objects—are introduced in unexpected contexts or endowed with uncanny behaviors. These wry juxtapositions elicit responses of surprise and enchantment that entice us to consider novel ways of relating to our world and ourselves.

Hein’s solo exhibitions include Who Are You . . . Really?, Moderna Museet, Stockholm (2022); Jeppe Hein: Circular Space, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne (2016); 360°, 21st Century Museum of Art, Kanazawa, Japan (2011); Sense City, ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum, Denmark (2009); and Distance, Barbican Art Centre, London (2007). Notable group exhibitions include Imaginary Friends, Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona (2023); Living the City, Tempelhof Airport, Berlin (2020); Negativer Raum, ZKM, Zentrum für Kunst und Median Kalsruhe, Germany (2019); and Space Shifters, Hayward Gallery, London (2018). Previous public art commissions include Water Pavillion West Palm Beach, FL (2019); Mirror Labyrinth Besthoff Sculpture Garden, New Orleans (2018); Jeppe Hein: Please Touch the Art, commissioned by Public Art Fund, New York City (2015). His work is in the collections of Centre Pompidou, Paris; MOCA, Los Angeles; Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam; and Tate, London. Hein lives and works in Berlin.

(as of 2023)