ULRIK SAMUELSON
22 FEBRUARY – 7 APRIL 2024
REVIEWED BY
OMKONST
28 FEBRUARY 2024
EXPRESSEN
19 MARCH 2024
SVERIGES RADIO
22 MARCH 2024
SVERIGES RADIO KULTUR (INSTAGRAM VIDEO)
28 MARCH 2024
DAGENS NYHETER
4 APRIL 2024
Nature and the human experience of nature are central in Ulrik Samuelson's new paintings. Organic forms appear: a branch, gnarled trunks, a stump, trees that seem to embrace each other, twisted bark over an old trunk. Between the tree formations, points of light blasts through in some of the works, like highlights of colour in white and blue. In others, the black forms are elegantly scaled down against the artist's now unmistakable gold background. A common thread through Samuelson's entire oeuvre is the relationship between man and nature, with a lyrical basis in nature but just as often with a socially critical edge, questioning the system in which mankind has been organised. In these new works, the artist continues his exploration of the give and take between man and nature and the eternal balancing act between the two.
In the paintings, the trees take on an almost human form. The magical forest of the fairy tale comes to mind, but equally the different tree trunks become an analogy of human endeavour. Deeply rooted in the soil, they are nevertheless in motion. The trees are part of something bigger and strive for what lies beyond the canvas. In the reduced, the artist allows us to sense the infinite.
Ulrik Samuelson's breakthrough came in the mid-1960s. With a desire to renew and extend painting into the exhibition space, he created some of his first installations. He considered art to be burdened by history and sought not only new expression, but also a new approach to the practice of art itself. Inspired by Duchamp, Samuelson realised that he could use various objects and three-dimensional items to move the painting out of the canvas. The experimentation and search resulted in spatial environments, where objects and painting together created a new form of wholeness. During that time, there were discussions in art about the viewer's role as co-creator. For Samuelson, this was perhaps a humble way of showing that the viewer was as important to art as the artist himself, and not only part of, but also in, the work.
Several of Samuelson's earlier works were created with nature and man as an important sounding board, an important example being the installation Nature Morte, first shown in a group exhibition at Liljevalchs in Stockholm in 1967. Not only the title alludes to nature, but also the different parts of the work with the oak tree, greenery, and water lilies. During the 1960s, Samuelson worked on a series of almost abstract paintings which he called Homeostasis. Homeostasis is a basic biological principle, a kind of striving for balance and stability. The abstraction of the paintings gives way to organic forms, such as moving bodies that do not seem to be satisfied with the constraints of the frame. They seem to seek equilibrium outside the canvas.
Like the bodies in the Homeostasis paintings, these new tree trunks seek to move on. Coming full circle, Samuelson's vital paintings are fiercely relevant.
The paintings are executed between 2022-2024.
ULRIK SAMUELSON (1935) was born in Norrköping, Sweden, and today he lives and works in Stockholm. Ulrik Samuelson is educated at Konstfack – University of Arts, Crafts and Design, Stockholm (1953-57) and at the Royal Insitute of Art, Stockholm (1957-62). Ulrik Samuelson is a professor of painting and held a professorship at the Royal Institue of Art, Stockholm (1970-78).
Ulrik Samuelson has previously exhibited both in Sweden and internationally, including The New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York; The Nordic Pavilion, The Venice Biennale, Venice; Louisiana, Humlebæk; Moderna Museet, Stockholm; National Museum, Stockholm; Liljevalchs, Stockholm and Galerie Aronowitsch, Stockholm.
Ulrik Samuelson's works are represented in several collections, including National Museum, Stockholm; Moderna Museet, Stockholm; Norrköping Art Museum and Gustav VI Adolf's collection.
Kungsträdgården metro station, Stockholm is one of many public works by Ulrik Samuelson. Other examples are the stairwell to Guldrummet, Historiska museet, Stockholm; the entrance to Stockholm City Theater; Parabol, Sveavägen, Stockholm; main hall’s west wall at the Stockholm Central Station; Filmstaden Sergel, Stockholm and Riksbanken, Stockholm.
Ulrik Samuelson has received The Prince Eugene Medal and first prize in Carnegie Art Award.
Installation images Mathias Johansson
Video by Gabous Production