The Gothenburg Museum of Art presents sculptor Jone Kvie in an solo exhibition

Jone Kvie
Metamorphosis
24 February –20 May, 2018

This spring’s first exhibition presents the Norwegian artist Jone Kvie (b. 1971). Kvie is a sculptor who explores sculpture as form, material and weight with both classical and modernist methods. With references to nature, alchemy and the universe, he investigates the present age and the human condition in monumental, organic and minimalistic sculptures. Cast in bronze or alumnium, or carved in marble, the sculptures’ mode of expression is austere, massive and precise. It is with great pleasure that the Gothenburg Museum of Art presents Jone Kvie in a solo exhibition featuring several newly produced works. 

With the exhibition Metamorphosis, Kvie abandons his earlier themes of the universe, falling stars and gas clouds, and returns to Earth as a source of inspiration. For the exhibition, he has worked with sculptural pieces of a solitary nature as well as two new series of sculptures focusing on spatial installations consisting of low, floor-based works. Using a special light design, he experiments with the role of light in understanding sculpture and continues to investigate his own artistic production. The visual aspects of processing three-dimensional works are central.

-Jone Kvie is a sculptor who invites viewers to make an inner and outer journey by engaging their own thought processes as they experience the works. Kvie’s works materialise and visualize ambiguous ideas that are hard to conceive. The seemingly abstract and intangible becomes concrete and visible, like what a meteor or a nervous system looks like in a physical or three-dimensional form. We look inside ourselves and see ourselves from the outside at the same time, says Camilla Påhlsson, curator at the Gothenburg Museum of Art and curator of the exhibition.

Philosophical perspectives and alchemy as a starting point
Several of Kvie’s works refer to the theory of alchemy, and the Greek philosopher Heraclitus, who assumed that the basis of everything was fire. Everything comes from fire, and everything is consumed by fire. The new sculpture series Untitled # 1, 2, 3 (2018) is also connected to this theme, not least through its production processes, in which fire plays a central role in the casting technique used to create a sculpture.

Relations between opposites are also part of the guiding principles of alchemy, where hot and cold, hard and soft meet. This duality reoccurs in the work Evolution (2017), in which the movements of flames from a burning tire have been captured in white marble. The human psyche, knowledge processes and the language of symbols are other philosophical perspectives that interest the artist. In this context one can also mention Carl Jung’s theory of archetypes as a source of inspiration.

In between the body, architecture and sculpture
In the sculpture series Second Messenger (2017/2018) Kvie explores encounters between basalt rock and alumnium in objects cast in packing material found on building sites. The juxtaposition of basalt rock and objects made of alumnium draws our attention to the interfaces between the materials and their relation to each other. From that perspective it is clear that Kvie works just as much with the in-between spaces or gaps in the spatial composition as with the objects themselves.

The sculptures can be understood as intersections of the body, architecture and culture, but they also refer to physiological aspects of life. The black basalt rock is a volcanic mineral rich in calcium, from the city of Izmir in Turkey. Just like all living organisms, we need calcium in order for our nervous system to function correctly and relay nerve signals, hence the title Second Messenger.

A popular art work in the collection
Kvie’s sculpture Oracle (2004) has been part of the collection of the Gothenburg Museum of Art since 2010, and the spring’s solo exhibition provides the public with the opportunity to acquire a deeper knowledge of Kvie’s oeuvre. The exhibition is produced by the Gothenburg Museum of Art and is shown until May 20^th.

Biography
Jone Kvie (b 1971) was born in Stavanger, Norway and lives in Skräddaröd, Skåne. He trained at the Oslo National Academy of the Arts and Vestlandet Art College in Bergen. He had a solo exhibition at the Vigeland Museum in 2017, at Nässjö Art Museum in 2015 and at Kristianstad Konsthall in 2008. Kvie’s work has been shown at Bohuslän’s Museum, (2016), ARoS, Århus Art Museum (2013), Skissernas museum (2012), Bergen Museum of Art (2011), Malmö Museum of Art (2010) and Haugar Museum of Art (2010).

Jone Kvie is represented at the Corcoran Museum in Washington D.C., USA, ARoS Art Museum in Århus, Denmark, The National Museum of Norway, The Public Art Agency Sweden, and the Gothenburg Museum of Art.

Press preview
Welcome to the press preview Thursday, February 22, 11 am

Acting Museum Director Anna Hyltze gives a welcome speech
Curator Camilla Påhlsson presents the exhibition
The artist will be present at the press preview

Kindly inform us of your participation at the latest Tuesday, February 20 by getting in touch with:

Helene Karlsson, Communicator
031-368 35 07, helene.karlsson@kultur.goteborg.se

Opening
Welcome to the opening Saturday, February 24, 2 pm

Contact
Helene Karlsson, Communicator
031-368 35 07, helene.karlsson@kultur.goteborg.se

Camilla Påhlsson, Curator for Contemporary Art
031-368 32 38, camilla.pahlsson@kultur.goteborg.se

Anna Hyltze, Acting Museum Director
031-368 35 20, anna.hyltze@kultur.goteborg.se