Hans E Madsen

Hans E. Madsen is a Danish light artist known for his pioneering use of light and space. Madsen’s practice engages deeply with materiality while challenging traditional artistic notions of aesthetic, intention, and expression. His approach is marked by a rejection of conventional beauty in favor of a minimalist, industrial language that finds new meaning in everyday materials, from fluorescent tubes to mason buckets.

The physical and spatial properties of his works often blur the line between tangible reality and illusion, confronting the viewer with an awareness of their own presence in relation to the space around them. In his major installations from the 1990s, inspired by minimalism, Madsen played with the tension between illusory and real spaces, creating works that feel at once simplified yet expansive.

In his use of industrial, machine-made materials, Madsen aligns himself with traditions like 'arte povera' and 'American minimalism', where mundane objects are reimagined in new contexts. Fluorescent tubes, rubber hoses, and overhead projectors take on new lives in his hands, revealing possibilities beyond their functional origins. Like Dan Flavin, a key influence, Madsen emphasizes the material’s direct presence, rejecting symbolic or metaphorical interpretations. Yet, his works invite viewers to infuse their own meanings, encouraging a dialogue between the object, the space, and the observer.

Madsen’s light art challenges the understanding of space, material, and perception. His works create aesthetic focal points that reframe the environments they inhabit, making the everyday extraordinary and inviting viewers to reconsider their relationship with the world around them.

Submitted by Galleri Weinberger Schandorff