Visitors’ response…

all photos by HHW.

at ArtLab entrance; all photos HHW.

If the installation at Åmells deals with art as craftsmanship and merchandise, this one touches on art reflecting images of wo/man; comprising – among other things – a nude model study, a contour drawing on the wall, two paintings from the Casilda series and two (auto)portraits; one by myself, one by a friend with autism. There is also a plummet, and mirrors mounted to meet the eye from various angles.

For Swedish readers, the “Theories, Methods and Practises” text is available – as a part of the installation, and here:

“Ja, vad är målandets objekt..?”

ArtLab staircase with inscription (HHW); photo by Lars Berg

ArtLab staircase and 2nd floor lounge + model study; all photos HHW.

 

all photos by HHW.

These are some of my recent (and not-so-recent) paintings on display at  Åmells Möbler, Gnesta. The scenography is basically the showroom of Åmells’ factory workshop – where 18th century furniture (rococo and Gustavian style) are manufactured largely by hand, and with great care and skills. Consequently, my installation emphasizes art as craftmanship and as merchandise; paintings are mounted to match furniture and displayed with prize labels.
I also add some books: a recent publication from r a k e t a – soy parte del mundo – William Morris’ political writings and John Ruskin’s Sesame and Lilies, poets Erik Beckman and Cesare Pavese,  Catching the Light by Arthur Zajonc, and, in honour of Karl Schultz-Köln, an anthology of  his texts on art as research.

Next to this, photographer Bengt Björkbom shows a collection of his photo portraits; pregnant black-and-white, Dogma style “classic photography” in the tradition of Robert Frank, Diane Arbus, Walker Evans, Sune Jonsson… and, of course, Bengt’s own teachers: Walter Hirsch, Inge Roos and Christer Strömholm.

Camera snapshots and diary paintings…  moments of human experience, processed by mind, hand and technique.

building process; photos HHW.

The last few days I have had the pleasure to build an installation at ArtLab Gnesta.
For the ArtLab, it’s a kind of sneak preview; it hasn’t really opened yet, but nevertheless provides an exhibition space for a local Open Studio event. The installation will be on display for the week to come, opening hours are the same as the exhibition; weekdays 16 – 19, Saturday (Sept 3) 11 – 17, and Sunday (Sept 4) 11 – 16.

http://www.artlabgnesta.se/
http://www.egenart.info/konstrundan/samlings.html

Another three days passed. Each morning, the workshop started out by a quiet walk through the garden, followed by individual work on some chosen spots. Small sketches on paper transform into large collective paintings on silk screens, some placed outdoors and some in the music room.
The see!colour! exhibitions provides us with an excellent pedagogical instrument; within a few steps’ reach, we could meet the distinctive approaches of Hilma af Klint’s esoteric painting as well as the blackboard drawings of Rudolf Steiner.
On midsummer night’s eve, we spent a full two hours sitting or lying down in James Turrell’s Skyspace; experiencing a kind of illusionistic light-space where an opening above us turned into a floating coloured body, and the blue of the sky changed in turns into yellow, green or grey.
Thanks to Eva-Karin Planman, we could also bathe ourselves – morning and afternoon – in the living light of two stained glass windows at the nearby Vidar clinic; one green from iron, the other rose-purple from pure gold.

all photos by HHW.

Here we go – despite Sinikka’s falling ill, the workshop takes place more or less as planned.

We started out by a walk in the garden park in Ytterjärna, stopping by the different characteristic spaces – or ‘rooms’, even; the hilltop, the little islets in the system of ponds, the seashore and the rosegarden… finally ending up in Almandinen music room for tea and talk.
And then some basic colour exercises: collective painting with crayons on paper, where the materials and creative process itself  play the leading part – and our different  temperaments disclose themselves.
To finish, one participant suggested that we improvise singing in a similar way. And so we did.

I really look forward to see where the group will take this workshop…