“Sculpture is something you bump into when you back up to look at a painting.” When the American abstract expressionist Ad Reinhardt (1913–1967) coined this famous phrase, he was probably motivated less by a distaste for sculpture than by his general, uncompromising attitude as a champion of painting. He wanted, after all, to free painting from all responsibilities other than staying entirely true to its own existence.

Nonetheless, this quote has also been of interest to those of us who have a special place in our hearts for sculpture. A sculpture occupies space, and inevitably relates to the most obvious attribute of a human being: the body. Our capacities for moving around, estimating distances, and detecting textures with our fingertips, as well as our inherent drive to compile and interpret three- dimensional information all ultimately depend on our bodies. Incredible possibilities open up here, which have inspired artists in all ages to infuse material objects with beauty: in stone, bronze, wood, ceramics, glass, fabric, scrap, and plastic.

For us at CFHILL, dedicating two floors to our conviction that sculpture and the many incarnations it can appear in hold an infinity of possibilities has been something of a dream come true. Giving our visitors an opportunity to “bump into” sculpture, and to wonder and marvel at its diversity. From Carl Milles, who represents an unbroken tradition reaching all the way back to classical Hellenistic sculpture, with its astute portrayals of the play of muscle in beasts and men in dramatic poses, to the architectonic and archaic seashell-like formations of Katrine Helmersson, or the more contemporary expressions of Annie Morris and Carsten Höller. In the works of Lena Cronqvist, perhaps the greatest living Swedish sculptor, a fragile and uniquely non-material presence is highly evident in her depictions of young girls. The same idiosyncrasy and energy are present in Nathalie Djurberg’s and Hans Berg’s undeniably unorthodox beings. 

In conclusion, the human phenomenon of sculpture is one that we think we simply couldn’t be without. In all its miraculous diversity, it proposes spatial ideas, stimulates the imagination, and provides a sense of security and wonder. This exhibition, which presents a selection of some of the most exciting and innovative artists from the last century, is our statement: it's Sculpture, Sculpture, Sculpture!

Michael Storåkers, Anna-Karin Pusic, Michael Elmenbeck