Born in Horsens, DK, 1955
Lives and works in Copenhagen, DK
Michael Kvium portrays the follies of humankind. For almost half a century, his artistic exploration of the suppressed aspects of humanity, has led him across a wide array of artistic mediums. Creating images resonant with theatrical qualities, rooted in his early engagement with performance art in the 80s. Kvium’s paintings are like scenes of a play engaging in grandiose or gloomy emotions, while posing critical questions about morality, idiocies, and the rise and fall of Western civilization. The works are an invitation to the viewer, to engage in reflective introspection, to share the stage and ponder. His work evokes recognition, though shoving us something we have never seen before. Whether his works kindle enthusiasm or disgust, astonishment or awakening, they are virtually impossible to shake off and forget. This insistent intrusion in our visual memory is the Kvium hallmark. It reveals the various lines in his work from early experiments to becoming an outspoken critic of our Western civilization and its downfalls through his art.
In 2017 Kvium presented his largest exhibition to date, Circus Europa, a giant total installation first presented at ARKEN (DK) and later traveled to Kunsthal Rotterdam. The show fused painting, sculpture, film and installation in a kaleidoscopic vision exploring the state of the world. Kvium’s work has also been the center of various solo exhibitions including SMK – National Gallery of Denmark, Copenhagen; ARoS – Aarhus Art Museum, Aarhus; Kunsten – Museum of Modern Art, Aalborg; Horsens Art Museum, Horsens; The Today Art Museum, Beijing; Shenzhen Guan Shanyue Art Museum, Shenzhen; and the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen.