Jens Galschiøt facts for kids

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Quick facts for kids Jens Galschiøt
Jens Galschiøt, 2022
Born	(1954-06-04) 4 June 1954 (age 71) Frederikssund, Denmark
Nationality	Danish
Known for	Sculpture
Notable work	Pillar of Shame series

Jens Galschiøt (born on June 4, 1954) is a Danish sculptor. He is famous for his artwork, especially the Pillar of Shame. In 1973, Galschiøt moved to Odense, Denmark. In 1985, he opened a large workshop. It includes a metal foundry, his art studio, a gallery called Gallery Galschiøt, and a sculpture park.

Jens Galschiøt is an artist who mixes different art styles. These include installation art (art that fills a space), conceptual art (art about ideas), and street art (art in public places). He often uses his sculptures to speak out against unfairness in the world. He places his art in big public squares and cities globally. Most of his sculptures are made from bronze and he often pays for them himself.

In 1997, he created the Pillar of Shame in Hong Kong. This was the first of several sculptures with the same name. He made another in Mexico in 1999 and a third in Brazil in 2000. In 2008, Galschiøt started The Color Orange campaign. This project protested against human rights issues in China. He was not allowed to enter Hong Kong to paint the Pillar of Shame orange.

Jens Galschiøt's Art for Awards
Major Art Projects and Sculptures
Timeline of Major Art Projects
Gallery Galschiøt: A Place for Art
See also

Jens Galschiøt's Art for Awards

Jens Galschiøt has created several artworks that are given as awards. Many of these awards are given out every year.

One important award he made is the Hans Christian Andersen Prize. Since 1996, Galschiøt has made a copper sculpture for this award. It is a casting of Andersen's book The Adventures of my Life. A poem by Andersen and the winner's name are carved into it. This award goes to people who have helped share the stories of Hans Christian Andersen. Famous winners include the German writer Günter Grass and the American film producer Steven Spielberg. In 2004, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark also received this prize.

Major Art Projects and Sculptures

Jens Galschiøt is known as a political artist. He creates most of his art projects to start discussions and make people think. He often places his artworks in very public spots, sometimes even without official permission.

The Pillar of Shame: Speaking Out for Human Rights

Pillar of Shame in Orange Color 02a

The Pillar of Shame is a series of sculptures by Galschiøt. The first one was put up in Hong Kong on June 4, 1997. This was just before Hong Kong was handed over from British to Chinese rule. The sculpture protested China's harsh actions during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.

The Pillar of Shame is eight meters (about 26 feet) tall. It shows many twisted human bodies. On April 30, 2008, Chinese democracy activists painted the Pillar orange. This was part of the worldwide Color Orange campaign. The campaign, started by Galschiøt, spoke out against human rights problems in China. This event happened before the Olympic Games in Beijing in August 2008. Galschiøt and his team tried to go to Hong Kong for the event, but they were not allowed in.

Galschiøt later put up other versions of the Pillar of Shame in different cities. These sculptures continued to protest against human rights violations around the world.

Pillar of Shame in Mexico

On May 1, 1999, a Pillar of Shame was set up in the Zócalo, the main square in Mexico City. It stood there for two days in front of the Parliament building. It protested the unfair treatment of the local native people. Later, the Pillar was moved to the entrance of Acteal village in Chiapas. In Acteal, 45 unarmed native people were killed by a group on December 22, 1997. Hundreds of local people came to see the sculpture put up again. On December 22, 2003, new signs were added to the Pillar in the local Tzotzil language. The original signs were only in Spanish and English, which many native people did not understand.

Pillar of Shame in Brazil

On April 17, 2000, a Pillar of Shame was put up in front of the Brazilian Parliament in Brasília. It honored 19 landless farmers who were killed by police in Pará state on April 17, 1996. The sculpture was set up with help from the MST (the landless farmers movement) and some politicians. This happened even though some right-wing groups and government officials strongly opposed it. The Minister of Justice had even said, "This sculpture will never be set up in front of the Brazilian Parliament."

On May 1, the Pillar of Shame was permanently placed in Belém. This is the capital of Pará state, where the Eldorado dos Carajás massacre happened. The mayor, Edmilson Rodrigues, said at the opening, "Despite resistance from the powerful, we keep our promise to set up the Pillar of Shame. It is a symbol against unfairness and violence that harms lives and takes away people's rights."

Pillar of Shame in Prague

Pillar of shame, Prague (2022)

On June 4, 2022, the 33rd anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre and a day to remember protests in Hong Kong, Jens Galschiøt's Pillar of Shame was placed at the DOX Centre for Contemporary Art in Prague.

Cocoon: Art at the World Exhibition

The Cocoon is a group of sculptures made for the Danish exhibit at the World Exhibition in Seville Expo '92, Spain. Cocoon has 22 steel shields, each about 1.5 meters by 4 meters. Bronze faces push through these shields. Galschiøt also showed twenty bronze sculptures and a working silversmith's workshop.

My Inner Beast: Challenging Intolerance

My Inner Beast at Jens Galschiøts studio

Galschiøt placed heavy, black concrete sculptures, each weighing one ton, in famous spots across twenty European cities. These sculptures look like a pig dressed in human clothes. The goal was to highlight the growing violence, intolerance, racism, and unfair treatment of minority groups in Europe.

In November 1993, the twenty My Inner Beast sculptures were put up within 55 hours. The authorities did not know about it beforehand. The sculptures caused a lot of discussion among politicians, in the news, and with the public. In some cities, My Inner Beast was given a permanent home as a gift to the city. Over 100 volunteers helped with this art event.

The Beast - Ten Years Later

Ten years later, Jens Galschiøt and his team looked into what happened to each of the 20 sculptures. Their fates were very different. Some statues were hidden or even destroyed. In other cities, the Beast found a special place. In Bonn, Germany, it became part of the German state's art collection. The statue also found permanent homes in Copenhagen, Milan, Barcelona, and Innsbruck. The ten-year anniversary was celebrated at the European Social Forum in Paris in November 2003. Two "Beasts" were part of a big event there, along with other sculptures like Survival of the Fattest and 14 Hunger Boys.

The Children of Abraham: A Dialogue on Faith

The Children of Abraham is a project by Jens Galschiøt that explores the three main religions that believe in one God: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The project includes the sculpture Fundamentalism. This sculpture has 600 quotes from the Torah, the Bible, and the Quran. The sculpture is made of letters that spell out the word "Fundamentalism." The letters are 3.5 meters (about 11.5 feet) tall, and the whole sculpture is 9 meters (about 29.5 feet) wide.

Galschiøt also created "Pillars of Scriptures" for this project. On these pillars, the 600 quotes are shown on screens. The project was displayed at Silkeborg Bad in January 2015 and at the Heavenly Days festival in Copenhagen in 2016.

Timeline of Major Art Projects

Cocoon (1992): A 4-meter-high, 12-meter-wide sculpture. It has 22 shields made of rustproof steel with bronze faces breaking through. It was first shown at the World Exhibition in Seville, Spain.
My Inner Beast (1993): Concrete sculptures, 230 cm (about 7.5 feet) high. 22 sculptures were placed in public spaces in European cities. This was a Street art action to highlight growing problems in Europe.
The Silent Death (1995).
Pillar of Shame (1996 - 201?): An 8-meter-high sculpture created to mark a crime or injustice. It has been put up in Hong Kong, Mexico, and Brazil.
The Earth is Poisonous (1997): A large art installation covering 20,000 square meters. It featured 2,500 white crosses in Odense. High school students wrote their ideas on how to help with environmental problems.
The Messenger (2000): A 5-meter-high copper sculpture of a female messenger. It has computer-controlled light boards behind it. It was a lead sculpture for the Jubilee 2000 campaign in Denmark and was shown at demonstrations.
Hands of Stone (2000): A 2,000 square meter art installation with 3,000 unique concrete hands made by children. This project worked with Amnesty International to raise awareness about child soldiers.
Freedom to Pollute (2002): A 6-meter-high Statue of Liberty with a smoking torch. It started discussions about Western ideas of individual freedom. It was used at environmental protests in many places.
Survival of the Fattest (2002): A 3-meter-high copper sculpture. It shows a very large woman (Justitia, the goddess of justice) sitting on the back of a thin man.
The Hunger March (2002): A 170 cm (about 5.5 feet) high copper sculpture installation. It has 27 starving boys. These sculptures have been part of many protests around the world.
The Nightmare (2002): A 20x20 meter art installation with hundreds of sculptures. It included Fenris wolves breathing 8-meter fireballs. It was shown at the Roskilde Festival in 2005.
Mad Cow Disease (2005): An art installation with a 12-meter-high balancing scale. One side had a stuffed cow, and the other had 5 hunger boys. It was shown in Copenhagen and at the WTO meeting in Hong Kong.
Golden Calf (2005): An 8-meter-high copper sculpture of a golden calf, covered in 24-carat gold leaf. It is now permanently in Fredericia, Denmark.
In the Name of God (2006): A copper sculpture installation. It shows different sculptures of a pregnant, crucified teenage girl.
The Color Orange (2008): An art project that used the color orange to highlight human rights issues in China during the OL 2008 (Olympic Games).
SevenMeters (2009): Many art installations during the COP15 environment meeting in Copenhagen. This included a 24 km (about 15 miles) long chain of blinking red lights. These lights showed what a 7-meter rise in water level would look like across Copenhagen.
Ending Homelessness: (2010-2013) 13 life-size copper sculptures of homeless people. They toured in many European countries and were shown at the European Parliament.
The refugee ship M/S ANTON (2010-2013): A floating art installation. It had 70 copper refugee sculptures on an old Danish fishing boat. It toured many coastal cities in Denmark and Scandinavia.
Balancing Act (2005–2015): Copper sculptures balancing on tall poles (6 to 15 meters high). Some sculptures were 3 meters tall. They symbolized the UN's "education for sustainable development." They were shown in Kenya, India, and Nordic countries.
Fundamentalism (2011/12): A copper sculpture, 4 meters high and 9 meters wide. It is an installation made of religious books that form the word "FUNDAMENTALISM."
Unbearable (2015): This sculpture was shown at COP21 in Paris.

Gallery Galschiøt: A Place for Art

Galschiøt has a workshop and gallery in northern Odense. It has an exhibition hall with his sculptures and other art. It also shows paintings by artists who work with him. There is a gallery space that can hold over 300 guests. This space is also used for concerts, discussions, and meetings. Besides the gallery, there is a small shop selling sculptures and jewelry made in the workshop. There's also a TV production company, an art school, and a sculpture park. Entry is free for visitors.

Galschiøt's foundry works with bronze and silver. They can cast items from very small to very large (up to 400 kg). It is one of the few places in Denmark where people can learn to cast precious metals. The buildings for the gallery were once a large car factory. Galschiøt bought the factory in 1994 and turned it into his art center. The area is now about 10,000 square meters (about 2.5 acres).