Galerie Forsblom February 10 – March 5, 2017
Opening with the artist in attendance, February 9, 2017 at 5.00 pm – 7.00 pm
The German artist Otto Boll (b. 1952) creates sculptures that resemble delicate lines drawn in air, tentatively reaching out for the unknown. Embracing an idiom of extreme minimalism, Boll’s sculptures evoke a sense of ephemerality, as if they teetered on a tightrope between visibility and invisibility. Boll sharpens the ends of his sculptures to a point so thin that they appear to puncture the air.
Boll believes that the human perception of space is limited by acquired preconceptions. He contends that the world around us consists of more than what we immediately perceive. Boll aspires to transform our experience of space: he seeks to express it as a continuation of our thoughts and feelings. As we circle and pass beneath them, his sculptures are transformed into a sculpturesque event. Our sense of depth is redefined, compelling us to relate to our surroundings in a wholly new way.
SCULPTURES is Boll’s first solo exhibition in the Nordic countries, featuring his wooden wall pieces and his aluminum and steel sculptures from the 1970s through to the 2000s. Boll’s work has been exhibited widely in countries ranging from Germany to the United States and Japan. His work is represented in numerous major European collections. Boll was among the artists featured at the Palazzo Fortuny’s PROPORTIO group exhibition at the Venice Biennale in 2015.