Briony Fer – författare

In this exhaustive book on Hilma af Klint published to date, twenty specialists in Modern Art, Art History, the History of Ideas and Religious Studies use their expertise to explore af Klint s unique artistry. The topics range from early Abstract Art and the impact of Darwin and Goethe s Colour Theory, to the importance of occult religious movements such as Theosophy and Anthroposophy which influenced the early modernists. Some of Hilma af Klint s own diary notes and research are also included.   The book is based on a seminar held in conjunction with the extremely successful exhibition Hilma af Klint A Pioneer of Abstraction in 2013 at Moderna Museet in Stockholm. The book has an epilogue by Daniel Birnbaum. This is a new edition that includes a recent essay by Kurt Almqvist, Hilma af Klint s Secret Teachings, Message and Philosophy , based on previously unpublished material. It investigates parts of Hilma af Klint s story that have not been looked at before: the background of her teachings and philosophy; the developments after her death in 1944 up until the formation of The Hilma af Klint Foundation in 1972; and the only heir to her works: the anthropologist Vice-Admiral Erik af Klint (1901 1981), the Foundation s founder and only donor.

This book explores the works of one of Sweden’s most esteemed artists, Hilma af Klint, alongside others in her artistic circle – and examines their inspirational influence on contemporary artists working today.Swedish Ecstasy tells the story of renowned Swedish artist Hilma af Klint and her artistic circle as the country sought to reconcile religious beliefs with scientific advances at the turn of the 20th century. While Sweden has often been characterized as a Protestant nation of great engineers and entrepreneurs, the country’s spiritual life has long been governed by a less official current, visible in its art and literature. In the early 20th century, mysticism and esoteric speculation ran through the works of some of Sweden’s most important artistic and literary figures.This book explores these mystic visions and their meaning with this intellectual and spiritual milieu. Contemporary artists Cecilia Edefalk, Carsten Höller, Christine Ödlund, Daniel Youssef, and Lars Olof Loeld contribute essays that show how these artworks continue to inspire today.

An unprecedented look at the little-known paintings from Louise Bourgeois’s early years in New York that laid the groundwork for her sculptural practice  “The catalog Louise Bourgeois: Paintings, and the revelatory exhibition, . . . were overseen by Clare Davies, who has commissioned an insightful essay from the art historian Briony Fer. But there’s another bonus: Beyond the paintings in the show, the catalog reproduces around 25 more, meaning that three-quarters of Bourgeois’s contribution to modern painting can now be seen in one place.”—Roberta Smith, New York Times, “Best Art Books of 2022”  Louise Bourgeois (1911–2010) is celebrated today for her sculptures. Less known are the paintings she produced between her arrival in New York in 1938 and her turn to three-dimensional media in 1949. Crucial to her artistic practice, these early works—the focus of this groundbreaking publication—show how Bourgeois evolved her deeply personal artistic lexicon, and how the themes and motifs she explored in her paintings coalesced into symbols of her sculptural practice. Informed by new archival research and the artist’s extensive diaries, Louise Bourgeois: Paintings explores Bourgeois’s relationship to the New York art world of the 1940s and her development of a unique pictorial language, adding a key element to our understanding of this crucial artist’s career.  Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University Press  Exhibition Schedule:  The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York(April 11–August 7, 2022)  New Orleans Museum of Art(September 8, 2022–January 8, 2023)

An absorbing study of Swiss artist Sophie Taeuber-Arp’s influential work, looking in depth at the role of the curve in the artist’s formal lexicon. Edited and introduced by Briony Fer, Sophie Taeuber-Arp: la règle des courbes / The Rule of Curves examines the work of leading twentieth-century artist Sophie Taeuber-Arp, whose pioneering, multifaceted work challenged traditional hierarchies and conventional binary oppositions, and asserted art’s urgent relevance to daily life. This bilingual, clothbound volume focuses on the formal logic that drove her bold and wide-ranging creative production while revealing how moving and working between mediums simultaneously expanded and crystallized her aesthetic. Alongside Fer’s new critical insights into Taeuber-Arp’s work, an essay by Jenny Nachtigall explores the artist’s “environments” and how notions of gravity, motion, and the cinematic offer keys to understanding the artist’s kinaesthetic sensibility.

 

Volymen Att se är att inse presenterar sju serier av verk av den framstående konstnären Hilma af Klint. Dessa verk skapades under den första halvan av år 1920 och är de sista målningar af Klint gjorde innan hon övergick till akvarell och började måla i den säregna stil som lärdes ut av Rudolf Steiner och hans lärjungar. Denna antologi baseras på seminariet som hölls vid Goethe-Institut London i samband med utställningen Hilma af Klint: Painting the Unseen, som ägde rum på Serpentine Galleries under våren 2016.

 

Refusing to be content with a single form of expression or confined by a single artistic movement, the French-American artist Louise Bourgeois (1911–2010) explored a variety of styles and techniques that few artists can rival.Works from her entire career are presented in this publication, from her paintings and prints from the 1940s to the Cells she created in her final decades. These works enter into dialogue with artworks by Pablo Picasso, Carol Rama, Arshile Gorky, Louise Nevelson, Senga Nengudi, Alina Szapocznikow, Seni Awa Camara, Nan Goldin, Robert Gober and Anna Maria Maiolino, among others.Text in English and Norwegian.