Knut Henrik Henriksen
26 Apr - 09 Jun 2012
KNUT HENRIK HENRIKSEN
Villa Savoye redrawn with an Opel Astra 2006
26 April – 9 June 2012
extended opening hours during the Gallery Weekend Berlin Friday 27 April 11am – 9pm, Saturday 28 April and Sunday 29 April 2012 11am –7pm
Sommer & Kohl are pleased to present the second solo exhibition by Norwegian artist Knut Henrik Henriksen.
Villa Savoye redrawn by an Opel Astra 2006 continues the artist’s sculptural investigations into “architectural doubts”, following on from their first presentation in the exhibition Berlin North at Hamburger Bahnhof Museum für Gegenwart in Berlin.
Villa Savoye is one of the most well-known buildings designed by Le Corbusier and built between 1928 and 1931 on the outskirts of Paris. The Villa is an icon of architectural history and can be regarded just like a sculpture in its composition.
Le Corbusier often integrated accomplishments of modern technology into his designs – in this way the automobile played a central role in the composition of Villa Savoye. The idea was that a car could drive towards the villa from the back, stop in the curve underneath the covered entrance, and then continue in the same radius of the outside wall into the garage. In this way, the floor plan of the ground floor was defined by the turning radius of a car, apparently a Citroën from 1927, which also had consequences for all other proportions of the building. The car has, in a way, modellized the villa.
Henriksen newly defines this radius as a sculpture and rebuilds the curved wall of Villa Savoye. In order to determine the turning radius the artist replaces the Citroën of 1927 with his Opel Astra from 2006. Instead of glass, concrete and steel Henriksen uses wood; instead of the original height of 310 cm the wall now measures 240 cm, which is in accordance with the standard Norwegian inside ceiling height.
The floor plan as well as the proportions of this modernist architectural icon are displaced and moved off-balance, giving rise to “architectural doubts”.
From 25 May until 16 September 2012 works by Knut Henrik Henriksen are on view in the exhibition Raw Materials – Vom Baumarkt ins Museum at Museum für Konkrete Kunst, Ingoldstadt (DE); from September to December 2012 in the exhibition Drawing: Sculpture at Leeds Art Gallery, Leeds (GB), subsequently travelling to Drawing Room, London (GB). Two permanent installations are on view at the newly refurbished Kings Cross station in London, which Henriksen realised as a commission by London Underground.
For further information and/or images please contact Sommer & Kohl.
Sommer & Kohl will participate at LISTE 17 in Basel (CH), 12–17 June 2012, stand G1, 1/2.
From September 2012 we are pleased to welcome you on our new gallery premises.
The exhibition has been kindly supported by the Norwegian Embassy.
Villa Savoye redrawn with an Opel Astra 2006
26 April – 9 June 2012
extended opening hours during the Gallery Weekend Berlin Friday 27 April 11am – 9pm, Saturday 28 April and Sunday 29 April 2012 11am –7pm
Sommer & Kohl are pleased to present the second solo exhibition by Norwegian artist Knut Henrik Henriksen.
Villa Savoye redrawn by an Opel Astra 2006 continues the artist’s sculptural investigations into “architectural doubts”, following on from their first presentation in the exhibition Berlin North at Hamburger Bahnhof Museum für Gegenwart in Berlin.
Villa Savoye is one of the most well-known buildings designed by Le Corbusier and built between 1928 and 1931 on the outskirts of Paris. The Villa is an icon of architectural history and can be regarded just like a sculpture in its composition.
Le Corbusier often integrated accomplishments of modern technology into his designs – in this way the automobile played a central role in the composition of Villa Savoye. The idea was that a car could drive towards the villa from the back, stop in the curve underneath the covered entrance, and then continue in the same radius of the outside wall into the garage. In this way, the floor plan of the ground floor was defined by the turning radius of a car, apparently a Citroën from 1927, which also had consequences for all other proportions of the building. The car has, in a way, modellized the villa.
Henriksen newly defines this radius as a sculpture and rebuilds the curved wall of Villa Savoye. In order to determine the turning radius the artist replaces the Citroën of 1927 with his Opel Astra from 2006. Instead of glass, concrete and steel Henriksen uses wood; instead of the original height of 310 cm the wall now measures 240 cm, which is in accordance with the standard Norwegian inside ceiling height.
The floor plan as well as the proportions of this modernist architectural icon are displaced and moved off-balance, giving rise to “architectural doubts”.
From 25 May until 16 September 2012 works by Knut Henrik Henriksen are on view in the exhibition Raw Materials – Vom Baumarkt ins Museum at Museum für Konkrete Kunst, Ingoldstadt (DE); from September to December 2012 in the exhibition Drawing: Sculpture at Leeds Art Gallery, Leeds (GB), subsequently travelling to Drawing Room, London (GB). Two permanent installations are on view at the newly refurbished Kings Cross station in London, which Henriksen realised as a commission by London Underground.
For further information and/or images please contact Sommer & Kohl.
Sommer & Kohl will participate at LISTE 17 in Basel (CH), 12–17 June 2012, stand G1, 1/2.
From September 2012 we are pleased to welcome you on our new gallery premises.
The exhibition has been kindly supported by the Norwegian Embassy.