[May 12th 2003]
press release

JONE KVIE
The exhibition opens on May 2nd, 17.00, and ends on the 21st of June. On the same day as the opening for Jone Kvie, three other galleries on Islands Brygge will also be holding opening receptions: Galleri Gustav Gimm, Galleri Nicolai Wallner and Galleri Christina Wilson. These four openings will be celebrated together with a reception on Njalsgade 19, starting at 20.00.


Nils Stærk
Contemporary Art
Njalsgade 19c
DK 2300 Copenhagen S
tel: +45 3254 4562
fax: +45 3254 4526
cel: +45 4088 7766
www.nilsstaerk.dk


It is with great pleasure that Nils Stærk Contemporary Art presents Norwegian artist Jone Kvie. For this, the artist's first solo exhibition in Denmark, Kvie is showing existing sculpture and pieces created specifically for this show.

Jone Kvie's work is inspired by, and contains references from, a
broad range of diverse subjects including nature and the natural
sciences, film, media and entertainment culture, everyday life and
art history. This content is transformed by the artist into
sculptures and objects cast both in traditional materials such as
bronze, and also the mediums steel and aluminium. The pieces are
cast by professional foundry workers in China and Thailand, countries
well known for their long traditions of fine craftsmanship, especially for the large format work that Kvie often prefers.

Kvie's work problematises our ideas of nature and the role of art. The visual and sculptural motifs reflect phenomena and form in nature, from stalactite caves to drifting ice blocks, whirlpools, mountain landscapes and meteors. The sculptures portray both true-to-nature and artificial images, attractive in their shape and polished surfaces, while at the same time appearing somehow unapproachable in their minute detail and monumental size. The sculptures are informed by the body's - both their own and the viewers' - presence in the space. The art historical references, in the form of romantic nature themes and the idea of the sublime - the
superhuman, overwhelming and chaotic - are in Kvie's work exposed as constructions, and the border between nature and culture is dissolved. In this way, Kvie has created a universe of metaphor that extends from daily life to the sublime, from the banal to the mysterious. These sculptures left their pedestals a long time ago, and stepped into reality, both as a reference and as an updated form of the world around us.