P O Ultvedt

In the 1950s, Ultvedt started experi-menting with film, sculptural objects and mobiles. Bourgeois furniture is brought to life. Here ordinary scrubbing brushes, fly swats and grandma’s hair combs play the leading roles in small mechanical chamber dramas. Titles such as Household Appliance and Painting Destroyer indicate a healthy rebelliousness aimed at contemporary conventions, and a large portion of humour.

P O Ultvedt’s phenomenal craftsmanship came in handy with many of Moderna Museet’s projects in the 1960s and 1970s. We find his name in the team behind both the reconstruction of Tatlin’s Tower, Niki de Saint Phalle’s and Jean Tinguely’s huge installation SHE (1966), and in the work of creating replicas of works by Marcel Duchamp.

P O Ultvedt 1927-2006.