Kjell Engman: Journey of Dreams

Date/Time
Date(s) - 18/05/2019 - 28/06/2019
All Day

Location.
Gallery in the Lanes
Bedford Street,
Norwich,
Norfolk,
NR2 1AG.

Event Description

First solo UK exhibition for top Swedish glass artist plus largest display of Kosta Boda art glass in east of England

There’s a rare chance to see and buy new, original art works by leading Swedish glass artist Kjell Engman in May and June when he has his first significant solo show in the UK.

73-year-old Engman, whose most well-known work is probably the Eurovision Song Contest Trophy, began designing for leading glass brand Kosta Boda in 1978. He soon established a reputation as one of the country’s most outstanding artists working in glass. His art works are collected world-wide and he has increasingly worked to commission. He has created installations in banks, schools, churches, concert halls and universities, and designed the stunning glass bar in Kosta Boda’s Art Hotel in Småland, Sweden.

His style is distinctive and immediately recognisable. It is bold, bright and colourful, ranging from the playful to the delicate to the sensuous. It could almost be described as Dali-esque and does not conform to our preconceptions of simple, minimalist Swedish design.

Engman is an exuberant character with a real lust for life. He’s played in bands, rides a Harley Davidson and enjoys hunting. Music and the natural world are key influences on his work. He says, ‘I like to make glass you can feel, glass that appeals to all of our senses and tries to make use of refraction and light. I want to paint pictures and tell stories all at the same time.’

In 2008 Engman was commissioned to design the Eurovision Song Contest trophy, still in use today. Made from solid transparent glass in the style of a classic microphone, the trophy is remade each year with the name of the host city. A second ‘back-up’ trophy is also made and stored in a vault, just in case anything happens to the first one! The exhibition opens on the same day that the 2019 Eurovision final takes place.

Kjell Engman was born in 1946 in Stockholm and studied at Konstfack in Stockholm (Sweden’s largest college of arts, crafts and design) and Pilchuck glass school in Stanwood, Washington, USA. In recent years he has survived three heart attacks yet still retains his energy and dynamism, continuing to work in his studio at Kosta Boda’s glassworks in Småland.

Kjell Engman: Journey of Dreams takes place at Gallery in The Lanes, Norwich from 18 May to 28 June. It will be complemented by other Kosta Boda art glass and limited-edition production pieces. Together they will create one of the biggest displays of the iconic Swedish brand’s glassware seen in the UK.

Kosta Boda, founded in 1742, is Sweden’s oldest working glassworks. They are based in the Kingdom of Crystal, in the heart of the forests in the Swedish province of Småland. Fusing technology and a specialist understanding of glass, their glassware is vibrant, bold, innovative and provocative. It is admired and treasured by people all over the world.

 

Event Contact Information

Website Address: www.galleryinthelanes.co.uk
Contact Telephone Number: 01603767282