Showing posts with label Nordic Cool. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nordic Cool. Show all posts

Thursday, January 17, 2019

Interview with Klaus Ottmann for the Phillips' 'Nordic Impressions'

Oda Krohg (1860-1935), A Subscriber to the Evening Post, 1887, The National Museum of Art, Architecture, and Design, Oslo.  The Phillips' wall text said, "one of the earliest examples of social critique to include the image of a child in art."  This is the artist's child, Nana, 2, cutting up a conservative newspaper which criticized intellectuals' life styles, namely that of the artist and her husband, Christian, who resisted bourgeois society.

You may have missed the eclectic, broad survey of 200 years of art at Nordic Impressions which closed Sunday at the Phillips Collection to which we give utmost thanks for opening its doors at no charge to federal employees during the Trump Shutdown. 


Pictured here are most of my favorites from the show which all tend to be styled more or less in the same manner, and it is interesting that without paying much attention to the artist's gender, I chose many by female artists, many who seem to represent the same time period. Anyway...

Impressions included 53 artists from Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and the self-governing islands of Åland, Faroe, and Greenland.

Helmer Osslund (1866-1938), A Summer Evening at Lake Kallsjon, 1910, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm

Paintings and video installations of Nordic lights and darks highlighted the show of landscapes and melancholic portraits, self exploration, and works of women's rights and social liberalism.

The exhibition was years in the making, beginning after the successful run of the 2013 Nordic Cool exhibition at the Kennedy Center.

Mamma Andersson (b. 1962), Behind the Curtain, 2014, collection of the artist
Harriet Backer (1845-1932), Evening Interior, 1890, The National Museum of Art, Architecture, and Design, Oslo. Backer "was one of the most influential Norwegian artists of her generation," said the wall text.  The year she painted Evening Interior, she had shifted from natural to artificial light and its concomitant "harsh shadows."

To advance the display of flowing Nordic treasures, Nordic Council members signed the Nordic Cultural Initiative with the Phillips in 2014 with the purpose "to promote the wealth of Nordic artistic talent" and to cultivate attention on the art.

The Phillips' chief curator and deputy director for academic affairs,
Klaus Ottmann, began working with the embassies on the show in 2014, he said in a telephone interview. 

 Edvard Munch (1863-1944), Self-Portrait, 1895,The Phillips Collection.  The wall text said "the skeletal arm" (not shown here) "along the bottom serving as a reminder of the artist's mortality."  He was 32 when he painted Self-Portrait.
 Edvard Munch (1863-1944), Henrik Ibsen at the Grand Cafe, 1902, The Phillips Collection. Munch made more than 400 illustrations of Ibsen's plays, according to the wall text.  Both were Norwegian.

With assistance from the Nordic Council, Dr. Ottmann traveled to all eight countries in the summer of 2015, spending two and half weeks visiting five museums every day and meeting with museum directors, curators, and viewing hundreds of pieces of art, all the while taking notes and pictures.

Johan Thomas Lundbye (1818-1848), Zealand Landscape, 1842, National Gallery of Denmark, Copenhagen
Jorgen V. Sonne (1801-1890), Midsummer's Eve,  Sick People Asleep upon the Grave of St. Helena near Tisvilde St. Hansnat, 1847, National Gallery of Denmark, Copenhagen. The wall text described the sick people in the painting visiting St. Helena's grave site, hoping to be cured by the saint.  Legend says St. Helena's body washed ashore causing a spring to appear that, since the Middle Ages, ill people have visited, hoping to be cured. The artist's rendition of the sky's colors was one of the first to illuminate Denmark's "unique midsummer-night light" when sunset and sunlight meet over the sea..
Dr. Klaus Ottmann of the Phillips Collection at the opening of Nordic Impressions/Photo by Patricia Leslie

The selection of the art was not an easy task, said Dr. Ottmann.

"All the countries very strongly felt the three self-governing nations [Åland, Faroe, and Greenland] must have artists represented," and they also insisted that indigenous artists from the northern parts of Sweden and Finland be included in the show.

They were.


 Ruth Smith (1913-1958), Self-Portrait, 1955, National Gallery of the Faroe Islands.  The artist was born in the Faroe Islands, one of the three self-governing islands represented in the exhibition. The wall text said her self-portrait "reflects the influence of Paul Cezanne....[and] is mercilessly faithful and reflects her depression due to her deteriorating eyesight."
Christian Krohg (1852-1925), Braiding Her Hair, 1888, The National Museum of Art, Architecture, and Design, Oslo
 
Populations (or "equal representation") of the countries were not considered for Nordic Impressions, Dr. Ottmann explained. Ten artists from each of the five largest countries were selected plus one each from the island nations for a total of 53.

Several times in the interview Dr. Ottmann mentioned the limitation of space he had at the Phillips which meant selectivity of pieces was critical, but no one in the Nordic contingent insisted on particular artists, but some gave him "helpful advice."  



The embassies were "very, very helpful. I didn't get everything I wanted, and we communicated back and forth."
Helene Schjerfbeck (1862-1946), The Seamstress (The Working Woman), 1905, Finnish National Gallery, Ateneum Art Museum, Helsinki
Fanny Brate (1861-1940), Sunshine, 1898, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm
 
Vilhelm Hammershoi (1864-1916), Interior with the Artist's Easel, 1910, National Gallery of Denmark, Copenhagen.  The wall text identified the artist as a recluse who seldom provided narrative.
Asger Jorn (1914-1973), Ainsi on s'Ensor (Out of this World-after Ensor), 1962,  Museum Jorn, Silkeborg.  Jorn was an experimental artist who modified paintings in the style of Belgian artist James Ensor (1860-1949), according to wall text. This is a reworked rendition of a hanged man by French artist Hugues de Beaumont (1874-1947). The title means "and so one departs." Note the prickly cat.
 
From his work for the show, "I learned two major things:
I was surprised by the number of women artists from the Nortics [about half the artists in the show], especially in the 19th century which I didn't know before," and "the diversity, a lot of it, especially the styles of the artists."
 

Dr. Ottmann found "lots of abstracts in many different styles which I tried to include," and he did.

The exhibition was "not inclusive, or comprehensive and
clearly, there are some things missing," he said. But diversity was evident and the common themes of nature, family life, and a strong sense of ecology were dominant.

"I did not want it to be another cliche" for Nordic art, Dr. Ottmann said: "I wanted [the exhibition] to have surprises," and it did. Many of them.

"The Nordic scene is so powerful. There was much for me to learn."

 Hrafnhildur Arnardóttir (also known as "Shoplifter") and Dr. Klaus Ottmann at the opening of Nortic Impressions at The Phillips Collection. Behind them is Zealand Landscape, 1842, by Johan Thomas Lundbye (1818-1848), National Gallery of Denmark, Copenhagen/Photo by Patricia Leslie
 
Some of the artists in the show were from the Golden Age and Romantic era (Akseli Gallen-Kallela and Helene Schjerfbeck), while others are known for their nationalism and French influence (Franciska Clausen and Helmer Osslund). Sigurður Guðmundsson and Poul Gernes demonstrated conceptual and experimental art.

Contemporary artist Hrafnhildur Arnardóttir also known as "Shoplifter" (because the pronouncement of her name sounds like "Shoplifter"), is a present resident of Brooklyn
"discovered" by Dr. Ottmann on his trip, he said. She visited the Phillips three times to help with planning, as did other Nordic artists and musicians. ("Shoplifter" will represent Iceland in this year's Venice Biennale which boasts an attendance of a half million persons.)

Dr. Ottmann wrote the lead essay for the catalogue and others making contributions were Dorthe Aagesen, chief curator and senior researcher, SMK Copenhagen; Kasper Monrad, former chief curator and senior researcher, SMK Copenhagen; Riitta Ojanperä, director of collections management, Finnish National Gallery; Nils Ohlsen, director of old masters and modern art, The National Museum of Art, Architecture, and Design; and Carl-Johan Olsson, curator, 19th-century painting, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm.

The 200-paged softbound catalogue with color reproductions and artists' biographical sketches sells for $19.95 in the Phillips' gift shop. 


An abbreviated, contemporary version of the exhibition screened earlier in Seattle.

The Marion F. Goldin Charitable Fund, the Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation, and the scan|design foundation helped make the exhibition possible with in-kind support by Farrows and Ball.

This year will mark Dr. Ottmann's ninth year at the Phillips where he curated George Condo before Nordic, one of more than 50 shows he has orchestrated around the world, including one opening January 26 at American University, The Gifts of Tony Podesta.

A native of Nuremberg, Germany, Dr. Ottmann earned a M.A. and Ph.D. in philosophy and began his career as an art critic. He has written so many books, "a lot, I can't keep up with [them]. I've been writing for almost 35 years."

He did not mention it, but his Wikipedia page says in 2016 he was awarded the French Medal of Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters (Ordre des Arts et des Lettres). The honor recognizes notable artists, writers, and others who have helped advance the arts in France and around the world. Dr. Ottmann joins the company of T.S. Eliot, Rudolf Nureyev, Philip Glass and others.

Where: The Phillips Collection, 1600 21st St., N.W. at Q St., Washington, D.C. 20009



Hours: 10 a.m.- 5 p.m., with extended hours on Thursday (with a ticket) until 8:30 p.m., and Sunday, 12 - 6:30 p.m.
 
Admission: $12, $10 for students and those over 62, free for members and for children 18 and under. A ticket includes admission to all exhibitions on view. From Tuesday through Friday, admission is free to the permanent collection and on Saturday and Sunday, permanent collection prices are reduced to $10 (adults) and $8 (seniors and students). Those under 18 are admitted at no charge.

Metro Station: Dupont Circle (Q Street exit. Turn left and walk one block.)

For more information
: 202-387-2151

Patricialesli@gmail.com
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Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Cool Nordics charm a Kennedy Center crowd

Hakon Thelin on his double bass at the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage/Patricia Leslie


A hushed crowd listened intently last weekend to Unni Lovlid of Norway sing and hum in her contemporary, distinctive style on the Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center.
You know how sometimes (all the time?) you just need a little something to soothe your mind without having to think about it?  Like pressing "refresh" and mental ocean waves sweep through your brain, calming tired wires. You've experienced that, no?   Ms. Lovlid’s voice, Hakon Thelin's double bass, and Ingar Hunskaar's magic with electronics are the remedy Dr. Healer ordered for a weary state.
Unni Lovlid and Hakon Thelin at the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage/Patricia Leslie
 
Ms. Lovlid is known for her contemporary folk music, talents she developed on the west coast of Norway, sharpening her ear for years under the tutelage of older women, especially her mother, who sing and perform. 
If you closed your eyes and allowed your ears and mind to fill with the sounds, her soft chants and humming carried you away to a religious experience at a monastery.  
Unni Lovlid is projected on the big screen with its black lines at the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage/Patricia Leslie
 
With a distinctive, clear voice, reminiscent of a mix of Buffy Sainte Marie and Joan Baez, Ms. Lovlid hypnotized the standing room only crowd with her stare and slight smile, gazing intently upon the crowd while she sang or watched Mr. Thelin, a Norwegian Grammy award-winner, play solo. 
They performed a northern lights number which had the power to summon the northern lights even for those audience members who have never seen the northern lights, with mighty sounds of roaring water which ebbed and flowed with all their friction, compounded by the rumblings of an earthquake.
Hakon Thelin projected on the big screen at the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage/Patricia Leslie
In 2006 Ms. Lovlid was named Norway's "Traditional Musician of the Year," and soon, Mr. Thelin's and her new album will be out. This is Ms. Lovlid's first performance in the U.S.
 

Their performance was part of the Nordic Cool 2013 Festival underway at KenCen through St. Patrick's Day, March 17, and what a success it has been, from dancing, singing, theatre, shirt sculpture (?) to Legoland on the roof for wee ones.  (Big wee ones are permitted to play, too.)
Click here to see the cool Nordic Cool brochure and leaf through its 64 pages and learn detail about upcoming presentations, many which are free.

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Tuesday, February 26, 2013

'Metamorphosis' was cool theater at Nordic cool



Gisli Orn Gardarsson became a flying insect in Metamorphosis at the Kennedy Center/Vesturport
 
Metamorphosis has come and gone after playing for just three nights as part of the Nordic Cool 2013 arts celebration now underway at the Kennedy Center, and it was some of the best theater I have seen in years.

A friend said he found Kafka depressing, but my purpose in attending was to enjoy drama and the artistry of the production, and that’s what I got, and a lot more.

If you've read the "novella," you must wonder how a producer would go about metamorphosing a man, a family's primary breadwinner, into an insect, but Gisli Orn Gardarsson, who plays the insect/man, and David Farr, both adapters and directors, had no problems bringing it all together.

The set for the play is a portion of a family’s house on two levels:  the sitting room downstairs and the bedroom of "Gregor" (Gardarsson) upstairs whose mother, father, and sister don’t take too well to the changed physical and mental state of their relative. They grow increasingly weary of putting up with the pest, and their tolerance of him who grows more different from them day by day diminishes.  Only the fittest shall survive.

In Metamorphosis only the fittest survive/Vesturport
 
Except for the mother (Edda Arnljotsdottir) who frequently shouted to project her voice, the performers performed their characters with aplomb, but it was Gardarsson who, of course, stole the show.  His metamorphosis into insect was so captivating that lack of bug costume and fur, 1,000 legs, and wings to soar over the house went unnoticed while watching.

Over time, his bedroom, which the audience views from a ceiling perch, becomes a cage where Gregor explores in his creepy, crawly way, sometimes on an invisible trapeze as he leaps from wall to wall.  Always crouched on boomerang appendages, he hangs from the ceiling, and jumps upon tables which become landing pads.
The insect's bedroom metamorphed into a cage/Vesturport
 

When his sister Greta (Selma Bjornsdottir) comes to beat him in one memorable scene, the lights go out and Gregor's domicile immediately changes into a black and white torture chamber, illuminated by one big bright light shining on the room from the back and exposing prison bars behind the wrestling silhouettes while Greta strikes her brother repeatedly. It is a painful scene but hardly worse than Gregor's parents' behavior toward their only son: Get rid of him, and let's move on. Gregor's father (Ingvar E. Sigurdsson) pelts him with fruit.

The show included a ballet of sorts by Ms. Arnljotsdottir who often pirouetted from one side of the stage to the other in gentle solos, rolling across the dining room table at one point, just like Gregor, except the mother was a tad more jubilant, not racing to escape her captors, and uplifted subconsciously perhaps, by the knowledge the upstairs occupant was dying and would soon cease to be a bother.

The lighting (Bjorn Helgason) conveyed in the gloomy but homey set (until Gregor's room is metamorphed) and the music (Nick Cave and Warren Ellis) (think: Hitchcock on ice) were spectacular. (Alas, unseen musicians and the volume made it seem taped.) Split-second cues for sounds and buzzers were never missed.
 
Presenting the play were Vesturport Theatre of Iceland and Lyric Hammersmith of the U.K., companies which pride themselves on producing exceptional experimental theater which has earned them several prizes.  Gisli Orn Gardarsson is one of the founders of Vesturport, and David Farr, a screenwriter and director, is associated with Lyric Hammersmith.500856_Turner Classic Movies
This Metamorphosis, staged around the world, was presented at the Eisenhower Theater at the Kennedy Center, the smaller theater size which makes reception more enjoyable, however, do avoid Row Y in Orchestra since the leg room is about a third less than that found in other rows, and we just a little better off than insects crammed in a cage.

patricialesli@gmail.com




Sunday, February 24, 2013

Cool Nordic jazz at the Kennedy Center


In the distance at Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center Friday night was Ibrahim Electric/patricia leslie

Guests stood 14 deep behind the filled seats at Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center Friday night to hear Ibrahim Electric from Copenhagen play cool Nordic jazz, part of KenCen's Scandinavian arts festival now underway through St. Patrick's Day, March 17. 
That's Jeppe Tuxen of Ibrahim Electric on the Hammond B3 on the big screen at Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center Friday night with the ceiling lights overhead but not that close/patricia leslie

Doses of Janis Joplin and Eric Clapton infused the chamber, mixed with Electric's acid rock sounds, soul and jazz.  The group has only three members but its distinctly northern lights music from a guitar (Niclas Knudsen), Hammond B3 (Jeppe Tuxen), and drums (Stefan Pasborg), made it seem like six were on stage.
Niclas Knudsen of Ibrahim Electric was on the big screen at Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center Friday night with overhead ceiling lights, and a bed frame in the rear(?)/patricia leslie

The group charged up the young, old, and in-between crowd, happy to be ignited for the weekend's start.

Happy Socks Free Ship

Stefan Pasborg of Ibrahim Electric was on the big screen at Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center Friday night with overhead ceiling lights/patricia leslie

Check here for more Nordic Cool 2013 festival events at the Kennedy Center whose blue lights make the news every night.

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patricialesli@gmail.com