Artist and designer Jakob Jørgensen (Danish, b. 1977) takes a hands-on approach to material investigation, both in his sculptural and industrial design practices. Through his manipulation of forms that are not easily pliable, he explores concepts of resistance, engaging in a deeply personal and all-encompassing process of give and take with the medium to reveal its essence.
While beginning his career trained in painting and stone carving, Jørgensen has become well established as a designer. His goal with any material is to investigate the full breadth of possibilities it offers, allowing him to arrive at his own unique synthesis of matter and idea. Recently, he has turned his focus to manipulating steel pipe as a medium for sculpture. In her essay Adaptive Growth, Rebekah Frank writes of Jørgensen, “His current sculptural exploration begins with lengths of low carbon steel pipe, a material that is the backbone of industrial applications. Within manufacturing, urban planning, and agriculture, these pipes are known for their durability against stress, fatigue, and breakage. Taken out of context, they are recognizable as an industrial material, but under the pressure Jørgensen applies through torch and tooling, they transform into monolithic columns, inviting closer inspection and a rethinking of the medium.”
Photography by Dorte Krogh
In his work with steel, Jørgensen investigates how the basic geometry of a steel tube is affected when the material is subjected to pressure. The result is an organic articulation with strong references to nature — and to wood, a material he knows by heart. Jørgensen has learned the techniques involved: welding, forging, using a hammer and anvil, and using a jack to compress the steel. Five targeted pressure points, and the steel tube begins to look like a bench. His organic expression stands in stark contrast to the indus- trial universe of machinery. A steel tube becomes a totem symbolizing the link between nature and industry. The act of reshaping the tube and wrestling with its artistic potential appeals to Jørgensen, and during the creative process he is more interested in what the material affords and how it reacts than whether the result is art or design. To him, the goal is to explore a material and the possibilities it can offer in order to arrive at his own unique synthesis of matter and idea. Scale also plays a compelling role in Jørgensen’s work; a simple scaling up of a design or an idea brings out the unexpected and magical. It allows the steel to dominate the room with a grounded materiality; the totem has a palpable impact as it bellows out its strength. Jørgensen does not raise his voice but lets his restrained and powerful sculptures speak for him.
JAKOB JØRGENSEN
b. 1977, Denmark
EDUCATION
2008 Danish School of Design, Department of Furniture and Space, Copenhagen, Denmark
2001 Scandinavian Design College, Randers, Denmark
1999 Apprenticeship at Studio Palla, Pietrasanta, Carrara, Italy
1998 Guildhall, School of Fine Arts, London, United Kingdom
1996 The New Art School, Odense, Denmark
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2023 Take Root, HB381, New York, NY
2018 Totem, Galerie Maria Wettergren, Paris, France
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023 Made: Sølvgade 19, Copenhagen, Denmark
2022 Matter at Hand: Ten Artists in Denmark, Hostler Burrows, Los Angeles, CA
Metalworks: Designing & Making, Konschthal Esch, Alzette, Luxembourg
2021 Matter at Hand: Ten Artists in Denmark, Hostler Burrows, New York, NY
2020 Spring Exhibition, Charlottenborg, Denmark
2019 Japan tur/retur, Exhibition of Oryoki Bowls designed with Line Depping, A. Petersen Collection & Craft Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark
2018 Halstrøm, Odgaard, Depping, Jørgensen, A. Petersen Collection & Craft Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark
2017 Everyday Life, 21st Century Museum, Kanazawa, Japan
Side by Side – Outside, SE17, Designmuseum in collaboration with Snedkernes Afterårsudstilling, Copenhagen, Denmark
2016 Pitch Black, SE16, Snedkernes Afterårsudstilling, Copenhagen, Denmark
2015 Mindcraft 15, San Simpliciano Cloister, Milan, Italy
Mindcraft 15, Designmuseum, Copenhagen, Denmark
2014 Barca, Designmuseum, Copenhagen, Denmark
Dwell On Design, 82Mercer, New York, NY
Mindcraft 14, Ventura Lambrate, Milan, Italy
Furniture Set in a Textile Universe, SE 14, Stockholm Furniture and Light Fair, Stockholm, Sweden
2013 Storage, SE13, Designmuseum, Copenhagen, Denmark
2012 Generation Design, Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris, France
Ampersand House, Brussels, Belgium
Mindcraft 12, Ventura Lambrate, Milan, Italy
2011 My 30th Birthday, SE11, Designmuseum, Copenhagen, Denmark
Bodum Design Award, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk, Denmark
Wood Couture, Galerie Maria Wettergren, Paris, France
IFDA, Asahikawa Furniture Center, Japan
2010 Whiteout, SE10, Snedkernes Afterårsudstilling, Copenhagen, Denmark
Designers Investigating, Øksenehallen, Copenhagen, Denmark
Uncovered, Milan Furniture Fair, Italy
Greenhouse, Stockholm Furniture Fair, Sweden
2009 Skud på Stammen, Copenhagen Technical School, Denmark
A Chair for Negotiation, SE9, Snedkernes Afterårsudstilling, Copenhagen, Denmark
2008 Architecture that Moves, The Academy of Fine Arts’ School of Architecture, Copenhagen, Denmark
Living Design Center Ozone, Tokyo, Japan
Graduate Exhibition, The Danish School of Design, Copenhagen, Denmark
AWARDS & GRANTS
2015 Danish Arts Council Grant
2015 Finn Juhl Prize
2012 Wallpaper Design Awards
2011 Bodum Design Award
2008 IFDA Japan, Goldleaf Award
COLLECTIONS
Danish Arts Foundation, Denmark
A. Petersen, Copenhagen, Denmark
