If you’re a fan of modern art, chances are you’ve heard of Italian conceptual artist Piero Manzoni (1933–63). What you may not know is that the biggest public collection of his work is not in Milan, but on the eastern fringe of Herning (population 48,000), a regional textile centre 40km west of Silkeborg. You’ll find Manzoni’s work, and that of visionaries such as Mario Merz and Man Ray, at HEART, Herning’s striking contemporary-art museum.
Designed by US architect Steven Holl, its shirtlike crumpled walls and sleeve-inspired roof honour the collection’s founder, Danish shirt manufacturer and passionate art collector Aage Damgaard (1917–91). In the summers of 1960 and 1961, Damgaard invited Manzoni to indulge his creative spirit in Herning. The result was a string of masterpieces and the forging of Herning’s Manzoni legacy. But HEART doesn’t stop at 20th-century conceptual art, with several world-class exhibitions of contemporary art staged annually.
