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Scandinavian Crafts Rampant
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14653 |
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Section : |
THE ARTS
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| Issue
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11 / 1988 |
2,395 Words |
| Author
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Katherine S. Clark
Katherine S. Clark is a freelance writer and curator living in
New York City. |
Good, clean design. Haunting, brooding images. Fairy-tale whimsy. Craft for art's sake. Scandinavian Craft Today, an exhibition of nearly one hundred eighty works from thirty-five artists, ranging from books to jewelry to textiles, conjures up all these impressions.
Although five separate nations (Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway, and Iceland) make up what we know as Scandinavia, they do share a common heritage, embracing disparate and even contradictory aesthetic impulses. Many Nordic craftsmakers carry on the tradition of "good, clean design" that we have come to expect from Scandinavia, making objects that are spare and elegant. Others draw on their folk art heritage, making works of whimsy and celebration as well as pieces that look further back to the mythic roots of these northern peoples.
Intimate Predilection
Another group deals with more formal questions and makes what Barbara Mayer in her new book defines as "craft art": nonfunctional two-and three-dimensional objects made with materials traditionally used by craftsmakers (glass, clay, wood, fiber, etc.). Scandinavian artists and craftspeople also share "a predilection for the intimate rather than the monumental as well as a respect for natural materials and the tradition-steeped skill of working with them," according to design critic Ulf Hard as Segerstad. Despite these shared concerns, each of the artists represented in this exhibition pursues a personal vision.
A celebration of materials and craft, Scandinavian Craft Today updates America's view of Nordic design and crafts, last
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