26 March - 8 May, 2011
Lars Bohman Gallery
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Lars Bohman Gallery is proud to present the gallery's first exhibition with Lars Englund and Tommy Östmar.

Lars Englund is like a true avant-gardist hard to categorize. It’s in between fixed categories such as minimalism, constructivism and abstraction that he finds the space to create his unique artistic language. Englund’s art revolves around some of art’s eternal questions like surface and volume, stillness and movement. Lars Englund creates intricate meetings between the actual work and the surrounding space in which the relation between work and the space is as important as the work itself. A subtle interplay between the inner and outer spatiality arises. The sculptures have such an inherent power that, despite their delicate appearance they fill every void. With no clear beginning or definite end Englund’s sculptures defines and shapes the surrounding room.

Lars Englund went his own way when he, like the American 1960s minimalists was inspired by the new industrial materials. When his organic forms met rubber, plastics, carbon fiber and concrete he created works that still seem hyper-modern. The materials have always been allowed a life of their own in Englund’s art, from the early swelling rubber volumes to the sensual experiments in plastic and spring steel.

The apparently strict symmetry is broken constantly by inconsistencies that skews the proportions and allows the dynamics to flow. The repetition of the form is subject to countless variations. When Lars Englund leaves his spatial exploration to investigate the most abstract another phase of his art arises. Through wind-driven, wing-like sculptures Englund explores the most intangible- air and sound.

Lars Englund’s art never gets cold and industrial despite the nature of the material he uses. The constant connection between the work and natures own architecture assures that the work never loses the human touch and that you always feel welcome when facing a work by Lars Englund.

Lars Englund was born 1933 in Stockholm. He lives and works in Jonstrop and Stockholm, Sweden. His work has been shown extensively in museums and galleries all over the world including the Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden; Dunkers Kulturhus, Helsingborg, Sweden; Lunds Konsthall, Sweden; The Venice Biennale, Italy; PS 1, New York, USA; Galeria Foksal, Warsaw, Poland and Galerie Ileana Sonnabend, Paris, France. Lars Englund is represented in the public domain through numerous public commissions, both in Sweden and abroad. In 2010 he received The Swedish Visual Arts Funds large prize.


Tommy Östmars oeuvre revolves around two main categories, the woman and the robot, which can be seen as the female opposite and the artist’s alter ego. The undulating movement stands in stark contrast to the inflexibility of the robot. Despite their stiffness the cubist robots are filled with dynamic and it’s in the meeting between the two that Östmar's imagery is summarized.

Östmars model studies are characterized by a strong dynamic flow. The movement is quickly captured and carried into the next drawing with ease. The never-ending flow between the studies makes it possible for the viewer to take part of the feverish atmosphere that must have prevailed in the relationship between the artist and his model. It is said that Östmar described the meeting with his model as a state of trance in which drawing after drawing was made, only stopping when he ran out of paper.

The intuitive link between eye and hand may appear immediate but it takes an eternity to reach. Östmar's model studies are more than just croquis they represent the essence of the artist's temperament.

Tommy Östmar was born in Finspång 1934. He received his artistic training at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm 1957-1962 where he later became a professor. Tommy Östmar is represented in the public domain through numerous public commissions, both in Sweden and abroad. He passed away in 2007.