Anders Krisár & Mårten Havalai Camera Obscura

Like living organisms, four large blocks of cream-coloured wax rest on black pedestals – the piece is titled Bronze/Wax (2019–2020). Buried within each block is a bronze cast of the face of the artist’s deceased mother. These casts, which are connected to an electrical power source, are heated and cooled at regular intervals. In this setting, which resembles some futuristic laboratory, the dead intermingle with the living through a coordinated cycle of breath. We exist, we die, memories come to life, connections are lost. The images of our beloved fade from view, only to unexpectedly appear as though in real life. 

Anders Krisár has long held a place among the most significant Swedish artists who focus on sculpture. Few other artists are brave enough to enter into dialogue, tussle with, and challenge the classical world’s view of the human body as he does. The anatomical perfection, the smoothness of the skin, materiality encountering resistance, almost shockingly. 

This Anders Krisár’s third time showing new works at CFHILL. Each time, his production appears more impactful than ever before. We get more, of everything. A whispered hum, building into a hurricane. We are delighted to present Camera Obscura, which constitutes another opportunity for us to delve into Krisár’s substantial, consistent oeuvre. In this exhibition, he’s also chosen to include works by his father, Mårten Havalai, who has painted all his life, but has been held back from pursuing a career in art by mental illness. Family, birth, memory, and timelessness are all themes which Anders Krisár is able to present with a surprising degree of openness and sensitivity. 

The new photographs in the exhibition present the artist’s torso from above and up close, partially reflected in a nearby mirror. This uncanny, hyper-realistic torso is made from polyester (a material Krisàr uses often, but which is otherwise used in boatbuilding), and also happens to be an inverted objected. A closer look at the picture reveals that the shadows actually suggest the opposite of what the eye expects to see: the rib cage and sternum are really cavities where one would expect them to protrude, while the navel tapers to a sharp point. 

Anders Krisár and Mårten Havalai both work in Stockholm. Anders Krisár has recently shown at Dom Museum, Vienna, and at the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan.