Lars Englund – Under Construction

Lars Englund
Under Construction
18.2 – 3.9 2023
Curator: Elisabeth Millqvist
Left Gallery (Floor 2)

Lars Englund’s art is characterized by exploration of materials and shapes and could be described as “work in progress.” Englund both returns to and constantly changes his expressions. He has collaborated with cement and rubber factories, bases his work on machine parts and industrial materials, changes scale from model to monumental, and finds inspiration in subways and Baroque architecture alike. This exhibition spans from paintings Englund made in the early 1950s that have rarely been shown to sculptures from the 2000s.

– Visitors will recognize the materials Englund uses from building facades and workshops. His choices draw our attention to our everyday surroundings, elevating the commonplace to the extraordinary, says Elisabeth Millqvist, Museum Director and curator of the exhibition.

This presentation combines sculptures from the Moderna Museet collection with works on loan, mainly from the artist. The focus of Englund’s work is revealed in titles that convey his interest in form, such as “Volume”, “Sphere”, and “Pars Pro Toto” – part of a whole. The sculptures, which often hang from the ceiling, interact with one another and challenge the surrounding space. There is no clear reference point for these works; instead, we are invited to move around and in relation to their abstract and geometric forms. The artworks establish a dialogue with the building’s industrial history as an electrical power plant, designed by John Smedberg and constructed in 1901, but also with its present form as a work of architecture adapted by Tham & Videgård to be a museum, with its distinctive perforated orange metal facade—a material to which Englund makes reference.

Lars Englund was born in 1933 in Stockholm, and now lives in Jonstorp, Scania County. Englund was celebrated with a large solo show at Moderna Museet in Stockholm in 2005. Solo shows in Scania County include Dunkers kulturhus in Helsingborg (2003), Lunds konsthall (2002) and Krapperups konsthall in Höganäs (1998). Over the years, he has also shown at acclaimed international exhibitions in Venice, Warsaw, New York, and most recently in Paris at the Centre Pompidou’s 2021 exhibition [Aerodream].

The exhibition is presented in close collaboration with Yvonne Möller.

A PRESS CONFERENCE WILL TAKE PLACE AT MODERNA MUSEET MALMÖ ON THURSDAY FEBRUARY 16 AT 10 AM IN THE PRESENCE OF ELISABETH MILLQVIST AND ADÈLE ESSLE ZEISS.

To participate, please send an email to press.malmo@modernamuseet.se. Please state for which newspaper, magazine or other medium you will be reporting.

For more press images or questions, please contact Alexandra Giertz, Communications Manager by mail.

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