Jacob Dahlgren sat within his metal pink sculpture

The exhibition presents nearly thirty years of work by painter and sculptor Olle Bærtling (1911–1981), an iconic figure of abstraction, in dialogue with the works of seven international artists: Cécile Bart, Rana Begum, Ulla von Brandenburg, Jacob Dahlgren, Bernd Ribbeck, Bella Rune and Brooklin A. Soumahoro. Through very different approaches and mediums, they are revitalising geometric abstract art and exploring its relevance today.

‘Art for me has always been about abstract motion. […] Everything is motion, everything moves. There is no fixed point in the universe. But whereas such motion is physical, abstract motion is in tune with human thought.’ These are the opening words of Prologue to a Manifesto of Open Form (1970), a seminal text written by Olle Bærtling, a banker who became an artist at the age of twenty-three.

In the 1950s, he began to develop the concept of ‘open form’, a system of angles rejecting any background or closed geometric pattern. The forms extend out of the frame, beyond the canvas, towards infinity. This spatial painting, inspired by his trips to Paris and his interactions with the Groupe Espace (André Bloc, Nicolas Schöffer, Victor Vasarely and others) and Auguste Herbin, mark Bærtling as a radical modernist.

In addition to using geometry in a new way, he proved to be a bold colourist: for him, colour was a perceptual agent that activates the retina and stimulates thought. Through their interplay of vibrant hues and never-ending triangles, his monumental compositions reveal an abstraction that is in motion, open, decentred and perpetually reaching beyond the frame.

This uniquely designed exhibition explores the global ramifications of geometric abstraction and its relevance today. It compares the iconic Bærtling with the abstract art of seven contemporary artists, who are exploring the concept of open form in their own, entirely new ways.

Implicitly, a question arises: what has become of the utopia that permeated Bærtling’s work?  Is the ideal of a universal language that, through its abstract form, can speak to and be understood by all still topical? The exhibition invites us to view abstraction not as a static legacy, but as an ever-evolving exploration. Revealing abstractions on the margins, it dares to shift the focus, as Bærtling did, to explore what it is that continues to move us in abstract art.

“Formes ouvertes” is part of a series of exhibitions at the Institut suédois highlighting artists who were pioneers in their time, in dialogue with contemporary creators.

Curators: Marion Alluchon and Marjolaine Lévy

Jacob Dahlgren standing in front of abstract signs

France

Paris

Swedish Institute

The exhibition juxtaposes Olle Bærtling's pioneering geometric abstraction with works by seven global artists, probing the enduring dynamism of open form art.

Formes ouvertes

Related Artists

Jacob Dahlgren

London

Newcastle