Galleri Lars Bohman is proud to present Truls Melin’s third exhibition at the gallery. Truls Melin received his international breakthrough when he represented Sweden in the Nordic Pavilion at the 1993 Venice Biennale (curated by Lars Nittve). In 1994 he became the first Swedish visual artist to receive the prestigious DAAD grant in Berlin.
Truls Melin is perhaps best known for his stylised, sculptural scale models of dredger boats. Inspiration for these works came when he was recovering from a period of illness triggered by the experience of an artwork: the Canadian artist Stan Douglas’ video installation ‘Der Sandmann’, which with its double projection and slow circulating movement creates a deeply schizophrenic experience. Melin’s first dredger was an ironic commentary on Douglas’ film.
In this exhibition Melin continues to explore his fascination with machines and the sea. In two of the gallery’s rooms he has mounted a sculptural installation consisting of transparent water pipes. They are reminiscent of the interior of a submarine - an association strengthened by the light-green colour, which is typical for submarines and is said to have a calming effect on the crew. However, over a longer period of time the colour creates a claustrophobic feeling for those exposed to it. Attached to the water pipes, and as an integrated part of these, we find small figures that represent drowned sailors. The labyrinthine sculptures are flanked by a group of smaller wooden sculptures consisting of black umbrellas placed in a base of gypsum and paint. These mushroom-like mourning sculptures are simultaneously explicit and obscure. They represent a timeless accumulation of things past.
In the middle room Truls Melin has installed a church organ which can be experienced from the inside. This bizarre machine; that creates beauty in the form of music, may be seen as a condensation of the whole exhibition. The viewer seems to participate in a timeless mourning ceremony, but it is not the deep, black sorrow that dominates but rather a melancholy, poetic and romantic feeling. One experiences a tenderness for life that conveys both good and evil.
Born in 1958 in Malmö, Sweden, Truls Melin lives and works in Copenhagen. He attended the Royal Danish Art Academy in Copenhagen 1979-84. Melin has exhibited widely in Sweden and abroad. Recent solo exhibitions include: Rooseum, Malmö, Sweden; Arnstedt & Kullgren, Östra Karup, Sweden; IASPIS Galleriet, Stockholm, Sweden; Malmö Konsthall, Sweden; The Wanås Foundation, Sweden; Krefelder Konstmuseen, Germany; DAAD Gallery, Berlin.
Truls Melin is perhaps best known for his stylised, sculptural scale models of dredger boats. Inspiration for these works came when he was recovering from a period of illness triggered by the experience of an artwork: the Canadian artist Stan Douglas’ video installation ‘Der Sandmann’, which with its double projection and slow circulating movement creates a deeply schizophrenic experience. Melin’s first dredger was an ironic commentary on Douglas’ film.
In this exhibition Melin continues to explore his fascination with machines and the sea. In two of the gallery’s rooms he has mounted a sculptural installation consisting of transparent water pipes. They are reminiscent of the interior of a submarine - an association strengthened by the light-green colour, which is typical for submarines and is said to have a calming effect on the crew. However, over a longer period of time the colour creates a claustrophobic feeling for those exposed to it. Attached to the water pipes, and as an integrated part of these, we find small figures that represent drowned sailors. The labyrinthine sculptures are flanked by a group of smaller wooden sculptures consisting of black umbrellas placed in a base of gypsum and paint. These mushroom-like mourning sculptures are simultaneously explicit and obscure. They represent a timeless accumulation of things past.
In the middle room Truls Melin has installed a church organ which can be experienced from the inside. This bizarre machine; that creates beauty in the form of music, may be seen as a condensation of the whole exhibition. The viewer seems to participate in a timeless mourning ceremony, but it is not the deep, black sorrow that dominates but rather a melancholy, poetic and romantic feeling. One experiences a tenderness for life that conveys both good and evil.
Born in 1958 in Malmö, Sweden, Truls Melin lives and works in Copenhagen. He attended the Royal Danish Art Academy in Copenhagen 1979-84. Melin has exhibited widely in Sweden and abroad. Recent solo exhibitions include: Rooseum, Malmö, Sweden; Arnstedt & Kullgren, Östra Karup, Sweden; IASPIS Galleriet, Stockholm, Sweden; Malmö Konsthall, Sweden; The Wanås Foundation, Sweden; Krefelder Konstmuseen, Germany; DAAD Gallery, Berlin.