Charlotte Gyllenhammar
"Dö för dig, natt"
Signed Charlotte Gyllenhammar and dated 1993-2002 and numbered 1/5 on label verso. C-print mounted on aluminum 140 x 140 cm.
Provenance
Galleri Mårtenson & Persson, Stockholm.
Literature
Mårten Castenfors, "Sveriges konst 1900-talet del 3. 1970-2000", Sveriges allmänna konstförening publikation 110, 2001, compare picture page 180.
More information
Mitt under 1990-talets ekonomiska kris initierades ett konstnärsdrivet projekt vid namn "Spelets regler". Projektets koordinater i stadsrummet bestämdes genom en slumpmässig sprängning av biljardklot på Masters biljardsalong 1992. Efter sprängningen fixerades de femton klotens utspridda positioner och fördes över till en stockholmskarta, vilket blev de femton deltagande konstnärernas platser för konstnärligt uttryck, allt inom en radie på 57 meter. Gyllenhammar blev tilldelad platsen utanför Åhléns på Drottninggatan. Där placerade hon en 120 år gammal ek, 12 m hög och 10 m bred, hängandes i luften ovanför gatan. Ekens koppling till dåvarande Sparbankens symbol utgjorde en kommentar till den pågående bankkrisen men blev också en symbol för mötet mellan natur och kultur i en urban miljö och ett oväntat element i citys hjärta.
Designer
Charlotte Gyllenhammar is a well-known Swedish artist who was born in Gothenburg in 1963. She studied at the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm and continued her studies at The Royal College of Art in London. Her significant breakthrough in the Swedish art scene came in 1993 with the artwork 'Dö för dig', where Gyllenhammar suspended a 120-year-old oak tree upside down over Drottninggatan in central Stockholm. The piece garnered enormous attention. In 2023, she followed up with a new installation at the same location, this time featuring an even larger tree with lush foliage and a more extensive root system. The new artwork was named 'Dö för dig/Slå rot'.
Following her breakthrough, Gyllenhammar created several works with perspective-challenging motifs, exploring subjects such as identity, memories, captivity, and the tension between private and public. In her catalog of sculptural installations is 'Svindel' from 2002; a blown-up, upside-down version of her own studio, the artwork has now become a permanent indoor installation located in the Wanås Sculpture Park.
Gyllenhammar is represented in several collections and has created numerous public artworks, including the memorial monument to Dag Hammarskjöld at Uppsala Castle and Raoul Wallenberg's memorial commissioned by the City of Gothenburg. She has also participated in several international exhibitions, such as those at the Guggenheim in Bilbao, the Venice Biennale in Italy, and the Biwako Biennale in Japan in 2020. In 2023, Charlotte Gyllenhammar was named Artist of the Year by Princess Estelle's Cultural Foundation.