Olafur Eliasson: Vues Empruntées | Borrowed Views

An exceptional exhibition dedicated to Olafur Eliasson at the Tinaia Al Bosco, with the participation of Laurence Dreyfus

From September 18, 2022, a first exceptional exhibition will be dedicated to Olafur Eliasson at the Tinaia Al Bosco, with the participation of Laurence Dreyfus Twenty of the artist’s works, including twelve exclusively in glass, will compose a poetic and original reflection on the extraordinary natural phenomena. These works, acquired over the years, of rare subtlety, combine technical genius and a profound invitation to contemplation. This collection of works, unique in private hands, will be shown to the public for the first time. Caroline and Eric Freymond thus continue their active and faithful support of Olafur Eliasson, to whom they had notably dedicated an exhibition at Espace Muraille in Geneva in 2019, curated by Laurence Dreyfus. At the same time, the Palazzo Strozzi in Florence is devoting a major exhibition to the Danish-Icelandic artist.

The Borrowed Views

The Borrowed Views series is an invitation to a sensory walk. Each work reflects a light, an impression and a feeling linked to a specific place on our earth or a natural phenomenon on our planet. From the light perceived in Bhutan, Bhutan Borrowed View to the aquatic abyss Deep Ocean Void (pensive), these superimposed glass plates are poetic witnesses of the different natural lights the artist perceives through his peregrinations and observations of the surrounding phenomena.

Like an old-fashioned watercolourist on the spot, adding colour to his landscape sketches to preserve a trace of the perceived light, Olafur Eliasson tints his glass plates as a memory and imprint of an experienced luminous moment.

The superimposed glass plates create a great depth of field: the eye is immediately caught by this new kind of perspective. This illusion stimulates a subtle destabilization of the perception of space, an illusion also given by the repetitive use of the ellipse in the glass.

As we approach the works on display, we observe the porosity and preciousness of each of these worked glass plates, which bear witness to the artist’s gesture and not to a manufactured act.

The fragility of these glass plates, resting serenely on reassuring wooden logs, metaphorically illustrates the lightness of human existence in the face of the infallibility of the natural element.

The choice of exhibiting several works from this series is intended to highlight and make the viewers of Palazzo Al Bosco attentive and sensitive to the dual genius of this formidable artist-researcher, who is both a poet and a scientist.

All the artworks are from the collection of Caroline and Eric Freymond. Neugerriemschneider and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery represent Olafur Eliasson.