Jeppe Hein joins Perrotin with Panorama, Paris

Jordana Lynch: Danish artist Jeppe Hein has joined Perrotin’s roster, and the moment arrives through Panorama, an exhibition at the gallery’s Matignon space in Paris where his interactive sculptures compress wit, geometry and genuine surprise into forms so deceptively simple they seem to contain invisible hands moving within them. The show marks his first representation by the gallery, which operates spaces across Paris, Tokyo, Shanghai and New York, and precedes a full solo exhibition opening in March 2027.

His methodology becomes unusually clear across the Matignon galleries. The sculptures operate at the junction where Minimalist restraint meets the unrehearsed joy of interaction. A circle of coloured orbs, mirrored and reflective, catches the viewer mid stride. Gold balloons shaped like teardrops twist upward on invisible threads. Forms stack and balance with the logic of childhood play, yet each carries the finish and precision of objects thought through with absolute seriousness. The colour palette rings deliberate: cobalt, emerald, deep purple, champagne gold, silver, each shade chosen to amplify rather than soften the formal composition.

What distinguishes Hein’s practice is the refusal of solemnity. His works draw from the 1970s vocabulary of Conceptual art and Minimalist sculpture, but where those traditions often demanded contemplation and distance, he invites proximity, touch, the small laugh of recognition. A bronze monkey grasps at a balloon frozen mid ascent. Ring of Balloons, rendered in light blue, gold and dark blue, reads as both formal sculpture and the memory of a moment just before letting go. Four Wishes for You, from 2024, carries its medium essences in the work’s title itself: medium blue, light violet, dark yellow, dark orange, hues that suggest feeling more than they depict it.

The architecture of the Matignon location amplifies this dialogue. White walls, wooden floors and a spiral staircase become collaborators. Hein’s pieces sit positioned as guests in a conversation with the space itself, the way a single perfect object in a room can shift how light falls, how one moves through it, what becomes suddenly visible.

Hein was born in Copenhagen in 1974 and trained at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts before moving to Berlin to establish his studio. His work has circulated through MoMA PS1 in New York, the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, and Documenta 14 in Athens and Kassel. Emmanuel Perrotin opened his gallery in Paris in 1990 and has since built a roster spanning painting, sculpture, photography and video art across six permanent locations: Matignon and Marais in Paris, two spaces in Tokyo at Minami Aoyama and Marunouchi, and galleries in Shanghai and New York. The addition of Hein to Perrotin’s roster signals the gallery’s continued focus on artists whose work resists easy categorisation, moving instead between disciplines and sensations.

Panorama runs through mid-January 2025 at Perrotin Matignon, 76 rue de Matignon, Paris 8e, open Tuesday to Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., closed Sundays and Mondays. The full solo exhibition follows in March 2027 at one of the gallery’s Paris locations, details to be confirmed. Works from the current show are available for acquisition through the gallery.

Perrotin, founded by Emmanuel Perrotin in Paris in 1990, represents artists across multiple disciplines including painting, sculpture, photography and video art. The gallery operates five permanent spaces: Matignon and Marais in Paris, two in Tokyo (Minami Aoyama and Marunouchi), and locations in Shanghai and New York. Perrotin’s roster includes over 50 artists working across contemporary art practices, with a particular focus on artists who bridge conceptual rigour and immediate visual pleasure.

Panorama runs at Perrotin Matignon, 76 rue de Matignon, Paris 8e, through mid January 2025. The gallery is open Tuesday to Saturday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., closed Sundays and Mondays. Jeppe Hein’s solo exhibition follows in March 2027 at one of Perrotin’s Paris locations, details to be confirmed. Works from the Panorama show are available for acquisition through the gallery.

Jeppe Hein was born in Copenhagen in 1974 and trained at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts before moving to Berlin to establish his practice. His work has circulated through MoMA PS1 in New York, the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, and Documenta 14 in Athens and Kassel, establishing a reputation for sculptures that sit at the precise intersection of Conceptual art’s intellectual rigour and the visceral pleasure of play. What sets his practice apart is the refusal to choose between these poles: each work demands both thought and touch, both formal precision and the possibility of genuine surprise.

Emmanuel Perrotin opened his gallery in Paris in 1990 and has since built a roster spanning painting, sculpture, photography and video art across six permanent locations: Matignon and Marais in Paris, two spaces in Tokyo at Minami Aoyama and Marunouchi, and galleries in Shanghai and New York. The gallery represents over 50 contemporary artists, many of whom share Hein’s commitment to bridging conceptual depth with immediate visual engagement. The addition of Hein to Perrotin’s roster signals the gallery’s continued focus on artists whose work resists easy categorisation, moving instead between disciplines and sensations.

Panorama runs through mid-January 2025 at Perrotin Matignon, 76 rue de Matignon, Paris 8e, open Tuesday to Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. The full solo exhibition follows in March 2027 at one of the gallery’s Paris locations, with details to be confirmed. Works from the current show are available for acquisition through the gallery.

Imagery courtesy of Perrotin (@perrotin).