PÅL SVENSSON
Recent Sculptures
October 5th - November 18th, 2006
Jim Kempner Fine Art is excited to announce an exhibition of indoor and outdoor sculpture by Pål Svensson, one of the leading artists within the realm of public sculpture in Sweden. This is his first solo gallery show in New York. The show will include four large-scale outdoor sculptures and eight indoor works. Influenced by Minimalism with a nod to nature, all ten pieces are made with Diabase, a dense, high-quality, completely black Swedish stone. In these recent pieces, Svensson plays with the dualities between light and dark, often juxtaposing rough, unfinished surfaces with those that are polished to a smooth, high-gloss finish that reflects light. Svensson strives to bring air and light into the stone, giving freedom and energy to a surface that often connotes immobility and lifelessness.
Like many 20th century sculptors, Svensson has pursued the connection with ancient megalithic cultures, the Stone Age, and past geological eras. Constantly inspired by the forms, shapes, and surfaces found in nature itself, he is also influenced by sculptors Isamu Noguchi, Richard Long, Donald Judd, and Sol Lewitt.
Featured in the exhibition is Origin, a dark, shiny sphere that looks as if it has risen from the ground. It is surrounded by rough-hewn scraps of stone, and brings to mind an earth egg that has just been hatched. A larger version of this piece, Out Of, was first made for the Wanås Exhibitions in the south of Sweden. The Postal Office of Sweden subsequently used the image for a postage stamp and commissioned another version of the piece, measuring, 8’x 12’x 12’, from the artist.
Another large outdoor piece, Unity, is composed of two interlocking L-shaped blocks in a yin-yang concept. Water flows over the lower form, giving it a dark, glossy, animated surface. Inspired by the beauty of wet stone, Svensson decided to incorporate it into this sculpture’s dualistic contrast, bringing a sense of life and motion to the piece and the overall exhibition.
Pal Svensson is currently working on Durham Sky Bowl, a large-scale art project in North East England after having won a competition in 2005. A giant Bowl in stainless steel that measures 92’ in diameter, its horizontal form will stand out at a great distance and also serve as an observation area that reflects the constantly changing sky. Still in its funding stage, Durham Sky Bowl, will be among a growing number of large scale works in the region by world renown artists as James Turrell, Andy Goldsworthy, Anish Kapoor and Anthony Gormley. Additional information about the Durham Sky Bowl project can be found at www.durham.gov.uk.
Pål Svensson, who resides in Gothenburg, Sweden, has had solo exhibitions at the Customs House Gallery in South Shields, UK, the Mons Museum in Belgium, the Centre Culturel Suedois in Paris, and throughout Sweden. He has also been featured in numerous group exhibitions throughout Europe and Scandinavia. His work is in the permanent collections of the Customs House, Arlanda Airport in Stockholm, the Farum Arena in Copenhagen and the Postal Office in Stockholm .
For further information, please contact Dru Arstark.
