Oldenburg turns things upside down

“French Horns, Unwound and Entwined” (2005) by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen is on display at PKM Trinity Gallery in southern Seoul. / Courtesy of the Oldenburg van Bruggen Studio and Pace Gallery

By Kwon Mee-yoo

Two French horns bent and intertwined together, a disintegrated collar and bowtie, and a Swiss army knife-shaped ship are part of the witty, surrealistic world of Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen now on show at PKM Trinity Gallery in southern Seoul.

For those who are not familiar with their names they need only look at “Spring,” a conch-shaped red and blue sculpture located at the entrance of Cheonggye Stream. This was created by Swedish-born American sculptor Oldenburg, 83, and his now deceased wife and artistic partner Van Bruggen.

They are well-known for making solid objects soft in their soft sculpture series and blowing up ordinary objects in large-scale public art pieces such as “Spoonbridge and Cherry,” “Saw, Sawing” and “Cupid’s Span.”

The exhibitions at the PKM Trinity Gallery and the Times Square shopping mall in Yeongdeungpo feature a series of works by the duo, giving a glimpse to their whimsical world, though smaller in scale as most of the works on display are smaller models for large sculptures. Since these are small-scale models of public art pieces, it is difficult to appreciate the unusual gigantic size of their works.

Two relatively big pieces — “French Horns, Unwound and Entwined” and “Leaning Clarinet” — are on display at Times Square as they need a bigger, more public space than an art gallery.

Oldenburg and Van Bruggen were interested in music as a cultural context and had a music room in their Chateau de la Borde in France, which resulted in several musical instrument sculptures.

“If we think about French horns, the coils are tight, serving the function of making sound. Oldenburg and Van Bruggen came up with the idea of freeing the coils,” said Joseph Baptista, director of the Pace Gallery in New York, which represents Oldenburg. “The shape also details the internal process of how we interpret music.”

Oldenburg and Van Bruggen influenced each other in many ways. “Their collaboration is very unique. People may think these are Oldenburg’s works, but Van Bruggen had influence in their shape and color,” Baptista said. “Her sensitivity to color created a more natural look related to the original color.”

Several sketches showing how “Spring” was developed are on exhibit at the PKM Trinity Gallery. Drawn on the Four Seasons note pad, the very first concept for “Spring” was water drop-shaped, but later developed to a sea shell with a DNA-like structure inside.

“The total mastery of Oldenburg and Van Bruggen’s craftsmanship is seen in these drawings,” Baptista said.

“Knife Ship 1:12” is a model of a real army knife-shaped ship that floated on the water of Venice, Italy, during the 1985 Venice Biennale. The tiny oars are functional, showcasing how intricate these sculptures are. “Oldenburg and Van Bruggen were interested in the element of movement and change,” added Baptista.

“Resonances, after J.V.” (2000) is the couple’s interpretation of painting through sculpture. The piece was inspired by works of the 17th century Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer, who is known for his delicate portrayal of domestic scenes.

It looks like a painting but opens up to a three-dimensional space and has details of Vermeer’s paintings such as Cupid’s arrow or un-played musical instruments.

A 1994 work “Torn Notebook, on Ground,” could be understood as a portrait of the pair who continuously wrote down their ideas in numerous notebooks, as they did for “Spring,” before actualizing the ideas into sculptures.

Most of the sculptures in the PKM Trinity Gallery have their large-scale counterparts, except for “Collar and Bow 1:16.” In Korea, larger versions of “Spring” and “Architect’s Handkerchief” are on public display.

The exhibition runs through Jan. 15, 2013. Admission is free. For more information, visit www.pkmgallery.com or call (02) 515-9496.