Loving Life - Heerup and Sylvester
May 1 – August 30, 2015
The exhibition is a meeting between two of the most popular and beloved Danish artists, Henry Heerup (1907-1993) and Leif Sylvester (born 1940). This summer their art work can be experienced in a playful interaction at the Art Centre Silkeborg Bad.
NARRATIVE AND HUMOUR
Both artist has something to tell. They are known and beloved because of their ability to crated imaginative narrative stories. They are as rich on manifoldness as everyday life itself. Heerup as well as Sylvester tell with a twinkle in the eye. Humour is one beautiful denominator of everyday life, reaching from fits of laughter to the suppressed giggle. We love it because it gives us a chance to have a good time on ourselves and each other.
MOTIVES OF EVERYDAY
Both Heerup and Sylvester are able to find the beauty in what is obvious and common. They do not have the fear of repeating or recognition in motive like the neighbour’s dog or a good cup of coffee. This is probably the reason why the art work of Heerup and Sylvester possesses such powerful impact.
With each their means and for their respective time of living they offer a kind of democratization of art, which bring art into the homes and the artefacts and experience of the home into the art. Through art both artists mirror everyday life and make it their own.
FREE LIFE
Being children of the working class it was not the obvious for neither Leif Sylvester nor Henry Heerup that they were going to live as artists, and they each had to follow their more or less complicated roads into this world. Decisive for them both was a huge love to a free way of living.
They brought the urge towards freedom into their art. From the art it protrudes in painting, sculpture and graphic work with motive studded with people’s everyday ordinary experiences. Art becomes straight forward when we through it recognize everyday through it; neighbour’s dog, a cup of coffee, love, playing, afterthought or anything else life consist of.
EXHIBITION AND BOOK
The exhibition has been organized in cooperation with Heerup Museum, Rødovre, Copenhagen. With generous support from the Nykredit Foundation it succeeded to publish a book, which is developing the subject matter further and which can prolong the spectators experience.
Loving Life is for anyone, who would like to stroll along in the narratives of the two artists or listens to poems in the sound boxes.
“All humans have a bird of inspiration, a bird of freedom, a fantasy bird, a bird of love – which they are taking more or less good care of. A bird which can be sent a little in advance and which can fly up high and see, yes thing in a bird’s perspective.”
Leif Sylvester