Art at Work

11 September 2011 – 22 January 2012

What difference does art at your workplace make? This is a question that KØS has asked ten employees at public and private enterprises and institutions all over Denmark – from Als to Roskilde.
Even though they are far apart, they all share one thing: Their place of work is a member of the “Art in the Workplace” association – a non-profit art association that was originally founded in 1954 with the objective of bringing the very best of Danish art out into the nation’s workplaces.

With the exhibition “Art at Work” KØS gives the general public the opportunity to see more than 100 of the works owned by the association. These works have been acquired through more than half a century of collecting; since 1972 the artist Peter Bonnén has been in charge of the acquisitions.

KØS uses the choices made by the contributors as a point of entry for showing the general public the way to the outstanding collection owned by “Art in the Workplace”. Here, we are not working with art in the public space in the sense of government-funded art; this art is shared, communal property. And we explore what it means to have art surround you in the common space that the workplace constitutes: Does it have an impact on job satisfaction, on the working environment, and general wellbeing?
The exhibition was created by art historian Anna Louise Manly and museum director Christine Buhl Andersen.

At the exhibition you will encounter:
Jesper Due, Professor, FAOS, Institute of Sociology, University of Copenhagen
Jesper Skovlund, Teacher, HTX Køge
Helen Bernt Andersen, Hospital Nursing Director, Rigshospitalet
Carsten Gomard, Managing Director, Netcompany
Ulla Rosendahl, Secretary, Glud & Marstrand A/S, Odense
Esther Holst, Social Worker, Roskilde Psychiatric Services
René Buron, Head of Security, Danish Ministry of Defence
Lasse Fischer, Secretary at DMF/Danish Musicians’ Union and musician/composer
Benny Clausen, Project Manager, SAP-Procurement, Danfoss A/S, Nordborg
Thor Ruhvald Axilgård, Deputy Manager and Exhibition Consultant, Kunst på Arbejdspladsen/Art in the Workplace

Photo: Albert Mertz, Sporvogn, 1955. Kunst på arbejdspladsens samling.