Awakenings

(Spoonbridge and Cherry, Knife Ship, Giant Soft Fan)

Claes Oldenburg was born on January 28, 1929 in Stockholm, Sweden. He shortly moved to America and developed into a Pop-Artist and to this day he continues to create his innovative and provocative art through sculpturing, drawing, and much more. Since his early art work, Oldenburg has been emphasizing the commercial aspects of every-day life. In the late 1950’s, Oldenburg’s’ “The Happenings” gave a new spin on abstract expressionism by coupling artistic scenes with theatrical aspects, which were partially staged and partly spontaneous. One of the key qualities of such an art was the interaction between the audience and the art work. “The Course of the Knife” was a two-day multimedia land and water performance which involved human performance and also highlighted the connection between art, architecture, theater and people. In 1977, he married Coosje Van Bruggen, who he has been collaborating with since 1976.

Oldenburg is known for his unusual-sized and textured sculptures. He explores the concept of spacing, irony, and positioning with his large-scaled works that put a comical and/or critical analysis on everyday objects. His unconventional works include not only hard-sculptures but soft-sculptures, soft replications made out of flexible material of traditionally rigid objects. Some of his famous soft sculptures include: a calendar, drums, fans and telephones. Oldenburg used the concept of metamorphosis by creating sculptures that would transform when inflated or viewed from a different perspective. Oldenburg works have truly challenged convention and continue to develop new views on modern art.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 17th, 2007 at 11:26 am and is filed under