Paintings 1970-2002. Olle Kaks has said that he paints because he has to. Not just for pleasure, but also from an inner compulsion. His pleasure in painting, the beauty and delight of the colours, and the voluptuous and erotic elements seduce and engage the viewer like those of the master, Matisse, of whom Kaks is an adherent.
Paintings 1970-2002
This summer the Malmö Konsthall will host a major retrospective exhibition of
one of the
most significant artistries in contemporary Swedish visual arts. Until this
year, 17 years had
passed since Olle KÃ¥ks' paintings were shown in a major exhibition in Sweden.
This January,
in cooperation with Malmö Konsthall, the artist opened his exhibition at the
Konstakademien
(Royal Academy of Fine Arts) in Stockholm.
The long delay was due to the fact
that he has
been a professor since 1979 and from 1987 to 1999 he was president of the Royal
University
College of Fine Arts in Stockholm, a task which demanded his full attention.
The exhibition in Stockholm has been a great success with both the critics and
general public,
with overwhelmingly positive reviews and large attendance figures. Olle KÃ¥ks
allowed the
former head of Sweden's National Art Museums, Olle Granath, to make a selection
from the
last three decades of the artist's work.
In doing so, Olle Granath used all the
knowledge he
has gained from an almost life-long friendship with the artist. Malmö Konsthall
administered
and prepared the exhibition, which it will host this summer, when additional
very large
paintings will be included.
Olle KÃ¥ks has said that he paints because he has to. Not just for pleasure, but
also from an
inner compulsion. His pleasure in painting, the beauty and delight of the
colours, and the
voluptuous and erotic elements seduce and engage the viewer like those of the
master,
Matisse, of whom KÃ¥ks is an adherent.
Everything bears witness to a great love of painting. KÃ¥ks' belief in the
painted picture as a
form of expression has also enabled him, underneath the sensual surface of his
paintings, to
sometimes depict dangers to the acute observer, to portray horror and disgust
and existential
angst.
His openness to impressions and his ability to transform these impressions into
pictures, his
eagerness to experiment and his abundant imagination, his free relationship to
art history's
styles, of which a baroque pictorial approach can be glimpsed in his most
splendid paintings,
his fervently bold and exhilarated use of colour: all these elements correspond
to his own
character. This personality, along with his delight in decoration, may stem from
his roots in
Sweden's Dalecarlia region. In addition to Matisse, it is the richly decorated
floral motifs of
Dalecarlian folk artists and their playfulness with the forms and proportions of
decorative
elements that are grafted onto Olle KÃ¥ks.
Olle KÃ¥ks was born in Hedemora, Dalecarlia 1941. He lives and works in Stockholm
and in
the last years he has been a summertime resident of Scania.
Image: Olle Kåks, Oväder, 2001 Tempest
Opening Wednesday, May 29, 6-9 p.m.
Open daily 11-17, Wednesdays 11-21. Closed June 21-21a.
Malmo Konsthall
St Johannesgatan 7 SE-200 10
Malmo
040 341294
Fax 040 301507