Jens Galschiøt

Jens Galschiøt
Jens Galschiøt, 2009
Born	(1954-06-04) 4 June 1954 (age 62) Frederikssund, Denmark
Nationality	Danish
Known for	Sculpture
Notable work	Pillar of Shame series

Jens Galschiøt, (Born 4 June 1954), is a Danish sculptor best known for the Pillar of Shame. Galschiøt moved to Odense in 1973, and in 1985 he opened a 2000 square metre combined foundry, studio, Gallery Galschiøt and sculpture park. In 1990, Galschiøt, Erik Mortensen and Jean Voigt, created the sculpture The Ringwearer's Jacket, which was commissioned by the Clothing Industry’s Union of Denmark for Queen Margrethe II’s 50th birthday. Galschiøt contributed work to the Seville Expo '92.

Jens Galschiot is a very complex artist, who moves around in the main distributing frame as, Installation art , Conceptual art, Happening, Performance art and Street Art with clear references to "social sculptures" (Joseph Beuys), Symbolism and Art Nouveau. Jens Galschiot mainly works with sculptures to fight the injustice in the world, and puts them up in big squares and cities all around the world. The sculptures are mainly made in bronze and paid for with his own money.

In 1997, he created the Pillar of Shame in Hong Kong. This became the start of a series of sculptures with the same name when he created a second in Mexico in 1999 and a third in Brazil in 2000.

In 2008, Galschiøt started The Color Orange campaign against human rights violations in China. He was denied entry to Hong Kong, where he had intended to paint the Pillar of Shame orange.

Jens Galschiøt has made several works for awards over the past years, and many are given annually. Some of them are mentioned here:

The Showbiz of 1993. A mask of bronze. The prize is given once a year by the Kolding Theatre to an outstanding character in cultural life.