Morgan Persson: The Swedish Hoard
August 15 - October 15, 2020 |
The culmination of a seven-year exploration into technique and imagery, this exhibition is a rare opportunity to observe the breadth and depth of a uniquely talented artist’s quiet dedication to an obscure process and an idiosyncratic style. This collection of twenty-four Graal vessels was discovered, secreted away, in a dirt-floored cellar in Sweden's wooded Smaland province, the historic Glass Kingdom, home of renowned glasshouses Orrefors and Kosta. The artist had produced these vases diligently and privately while working at the Maleras glasshouse. These items represent the most unusual and extravagant examples of the artist’s production from the seven-year period he spent mastering and further developing the notoriously difficult Graal technique. Unconvinced that others would appreciate his vision, these items sat, like buried treasure, in the crawlspace of his home, until he revealed them this year to Culture Object during a studio visit. Engraved images are inlaid with gold and encased in thick, flowing layers of glass. They depict bountiful bouquets of flowers in graphically patterned vases, spirit animals emerging from psychedelic swirls, and haunting portraits of loved ones in anguish and pleasure. These works document and celebrate the human condition. |