Kirsten Ortwed. West Dealer

Opening September 9, 6-8 pm

Kirsten Ortwed's works are an intricate exploration of the nature and the possibilities of sculpture. They are often characterized by combining classical sculptural materials such as bronze, plaster, stone and wood and rather unconventional materials such as aluminum, wax, PU foam, prefabricated parts as for instance transport trolleys. Ortwed's work reveals a sensitivity for the most intimate possibilities of the diverse materials. Despite their apparent great mass, her sculptures often appear to be in a state of change, metamorphosis or dispersal.

In her first solo exhibition in Berlin, the artist presents a group of new works that are emblematic for her interest in the paradoxical duality of sculpture and the relationship between space and form. The multi-coloured onyx marble sculptures are based on casting moulds of a larger sculpture, the artist developed for the city of Moss in Norway, which deals with the impact of a meteorite in 2006. The sculptures in the exhibition reference the genesis of the work for the public space and thus become its memory. The previous moulds become independent works. The negative space left by the meteorite, becomes a signifier and reveals itself to be simultaneously a shaping and dissolving agent.

Kirsten Ortwed was born in 1948 in Copenhagen and since 1982 lives and works in Cologne and Pietrasanta, close to the famous quarry of Carrara, IT. Her solo exhibitions include Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen (2008), Nordjyllands Kunstmuseum Aalborg (2002), Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nantes (1994), City Museums Heilbronn (1993), The Living Art Museum, Reykjavik (1992) and the joint exhibition with Lawrence Weiner and Barry Le Va in Malmö Kunsthal (1999). Ortwed realised many sculptures for public spaces, her major commissions include Full Length (2008) in Copenhagen, Monument to R.W. (2001) in Stockholm, Bering Iceland (2002) in Horsens and Platform (2006) for the state prison in Horsens. She represented Denmark at the Venice Biennale in 1997. In 2002 she was honored with the Thorvaldsen Medal of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. The meteor-sculpture for the city of Moss will be inaugurated in October 2016. This is Kirsten Ortweds fifth solo exhibition with Galerie Nordenhake.

Exhibition: September 10 – Oktober 22, 2016