We are used to thinking of architecture as something stable and fixed. But what happens when the floor is transformed into a mirror, which opens up new spaces? This is a question that is central to Per Barclay’s well-known oil space projects. Around the world, in churches as well as palaces, in libraries, bank vaults, fishing boats, workhouses and slaughterhouses, he has filled the floor with liquid and explored the spatial mirror reflections. MIRROR: Here, the window is transformed into a kind of landscape painting on the wall. He uses both the mirror and the window as the two classic metaphors for painting, to reflect on representation as a phenomenon. Photo: Øystein Thorvaldsen / Henie Onstad Art Center He has used motor oil and water, but also milk and ox blood. Although it is these spectacular perfectionist mirror photographs that most associate him with, he does not define himself as a photographer, but more as a sculptor. Until 14 January, he fills the beautiful prize rooms at the Henie Onstad Art Center with 40 works from the last four decades. IN GLASS HOUSE: Barclay has made many different houses throughout his career, with the gable as the recognizable element. The exhibition shows a glass house in which a drum plays by itself. The lonely drum that beats its rhythms in the fragile construction. IN THE GLASSHOUSE: Ever since 1991, Henie Onstad has been a place Barclay has constantly returned to. He says that he often went directly there from Fornebu when he visited Norway in the old days. In 2019, one of his iconic glass houses came into place on the lawn. Photo: ØYSTEIN THORVALDSEN / HENIE ONSTAD KUNSSENTER Full of contradictions Per Barclay is one of our greats. He has lived in Italy most of his adult life. While he has created a solid international career for himself, he has always managed to maintain a strong position here at home. As early as 1990, he had the honor of representing Norway at the Venice Biennale. LUNGS: In the exhibition, he shows several of his large, breathing lungs sewn from parachute silk. They inflate and sink together. They burst the limiting frames that the metal square forms. These white balloons make me think of outstretched sails full of wind out on the fjord, or sheets to dry in the sunset breeze. Photo: Øystein Thorvaldsen / Henie Onstad Art Center As I enter the exhibition at Høvikodden, I am struck by how full of contradictions this artistry is. On the one hand, his works are somewhat muted and restrained, for example he is very conservative in his use of colour. At the same time, many of his works are also characterized by a delicious magnanimous madness, such as where he has filled the floor of the San Domenico church in Arezzo with oil, in front of the crucifix by the Gothic master Cimabue. On Høvikodden, he now shows a photograph of only the mirror, where the crucified figure hangs upside down. CRUCIFIX: How are we to understand these projects? In dream interpretation, for example, architecture is often an image of space in the soul. The black mirror has something enigmatic, you get the feeling that something lies beneath the surface, memories that have sunk down into the depths. Perhaps the bright window rectangle can be seen as a glimpse into what is hidden and repressed? Photo: Øystein Thorvaldsen / Henie Onstad Art Center But on the floor of the art center he has created yet another pool of oil, which forms a new mirror reflection. In the dark oil, he brings up both the beautiful illuminated ceiling in the prism hall, but also the crucifix, which this time is facing the right way. Whether you read something religious into it all, or you only see Christ as an image of the good, it can perhaps symbolize a kind of unclear hope. Our ambivalent relationship with oil The exhibition also presents for the first time a new oil room series created in the old Deichman library in Oslo in 2022. A series that has never been shown before. Here we see how the simple mirror handle transforms the floor into a drain. It is interesting to see how the well-known neoclassical interior suddenly appears surreal and foreign. OLD DEICHMAN: Oslo’s old main library is among the places Barclay has transformed with the help of a mirror-like liquid. Photo: Øystein Thorvaldsen / Henie Onstad Kunstsenter He destabilizes the firmness of architecture and at the same time explores one of the most important metaphors for painting: the mirror. Time and time again, he examines the conventions and representational ideals of visual art in various ways. The windows on the wall in several of the oil room projects appear like bright landscape paintings. But in today’s reality, these images also take on a new relevance: The oil mirror reminds us of one of the most demanding dilemmas we face as a society: our dependence on oil. DAD’S SHIRT: This sculpture is a study work from 1979, and is one of his Arte Povera-inspired projects. Here he has used his own father’s shirt and created a sculpture out of it. From the patriarchal shirt with its phallic tie, he has created an expression critical of power. With the time’s rebellious punk symbol (the razor blade), he cuts through something petrified and obsolete. It’s beautiful how the razor blades can look like a flourish of lace on the sleeves and neck. Photo: Børre Høstland/Nasjonalmuseet In part, it is precisely this black gold that has built our state-rich welfare state, while at the same time we are becoming increasingly precariously aware that we quickly have to find other sources of energy and prosperity. In this way, Per Barclay’s work is built up in layers upon layers of meaning. The exhibition at Høvikodden shows not only the breadth, but also the depth of this important artistry. news reviews Photo: Øystein Thorvaldsen / Henie Onstad Art Center Title: “Soft Sweet Vortex” Artist: Per Barclay Location: Henie Onstad Art Center, Bærum Period: 18 August 2023–14. January 2024 Estimated time: 30-60 minutes
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“Soft Sweet Vortex” by Per Barclay by Henie Onstad – Reviews and recommendations
