Museum Tinguely - Party for Öyvind - Öyvind Fahlström & Friends

 

The art of making links around the

figure of Öyvind Fahlström

1. Claes Oldenburg, invitation card Party for Ôyvind, 1967, 

Offset lithography, 21 x 14 cm, Private Collection, © The Artist

The Invitation witch set history

    The exhibition and the friendship of the personage of Öyvind Fahlström started out with this invitation, made by his friend and artist Claes Oldenburg. But who's Öyvind Fahlström?

    Öyvind Fahlström was born in São Paulo (Brazil) on December 18,1928. He will be the only child of Frithjof Fahlström and Karin Fahlström. At the age of 11, he will be sent to Stockholm to visit his family, and due to the war, stay and study there to work as a writer, a critic and a journalist.

    20 years later, Fahlström has become an artist. He will have his first solo show with the drawing "Opera", a room sized drawing (like the one of Sol LeWitt). In the same year, he will publish his first essay and manifesto about concrete poetry.

    3 years later, Öyvind Fahlström will move to Paris and lived there before moving to the USA and to New York. This will lead to numerous meeting and exhibition. Such as the exhibition titled "New Realists" at the Sidney Janis Gallery. This invitation will be the flyer to the party and this achievement in Öyvind life.

All-Over

2. Installation view of the exhibition Party for Ôyvind with among other Per Olof Ultvedt, Mannen i stolen, 

1966 (sculpture left) & Niki de Saint Phalle, Jean Tinguely, per Olof Ultvedt, A Piece of HON, 1966 (centre) 

and HON, 1967 (poster right). © 2022 Museum Tinguely, Basel; photo: Daniel Spehr

    With an ensemble of well-known and unknown artist, the exhibition aim to reflect on the links between the artist and the figure of Öyvind Fahlström. From the gorgeous sculpture of Lee Boutecou (1931-Now), Roberto Matta (1911-2002), Faith Ringgold (1930-Now).

    But the most important link might be for a project in the Moderna Museet in Stockholm. The project created with the director of the museum, Pontus Hulten is described as an experience by the men himself. For almost four years he hoped to organize an exhibition created on-site. 

He will invite three international artists and friends to create an in-situ installation to be shown over the summer: Niki de Saint Phalle (French), Jean Tinguely (Swiss) and Per Olof Ultvedt (Swedish). 

    In an interview, one of the artist Per Olof Ultvedt described HON as a “big things, build castles and animate them! Niki was fascinated by Facteur Cheval’s castle in France and she wrote a long letter describing what we would do to build a castle inside the museum, full of life and animation.”. This will lead to the discussion between the three artists on what to do and how, an Opera? A mechanical theater?

    On the second day, Hulten had the idea of making a giant “nana” similar in type to Niki de Saint Phalle’s earlier ones. All at once, they embraced the idea.

Informations about the exhibition

Place: Museum Tinguely

Date: 16.2.2022 – 1.5.2022

Curators: Barbro Schultz-Lundestam, Gunnar Lundestam, Andres Pardey and Tabea Panizzi

Ticket: Available on the website of the Museum Tinguely OR at the front desk of the museum

Informations about the Museum Tinguely

Museum Tinguely

Paul Sacher-Anlage 2 - P.O Box 3255

CH-4002 Basel

Phone: +41 61 681 93 20

Mail: basel.infostinguely@roche.com

© Lucas GASGAR / Lucas Art Talks 2022