Erick Swenson

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Erick Swenson Exhibited at The Saatchi Gallery





Erick Swenson
Untitled

2004

Polyurethane resin, acrylic paint, MDF, polystyrene

59.7 x 701 x 442 cm
Erick Swenson’s installations create scenes of haunting perfection. Inspired by museum exhibits, set design, film special effects, and model making, Swenson crafts every minute detail of his tableaux, creating simulated, highly romantic scenes of that often exceed the ideals of nature. Spanning more than 7 meters, Swenson’s Untitled is a sub-zero oasis of mythical blizzard. Styrofoam snow and polyurethane ice engulf expertly moulded cobblestones, fabricating a spectacle of wintery Bavariana fairytale. Within the gathering drifts, a fallen deer strains against death in a sublime allegorical moment.

Erick Swenson
Ne Plus Ultra

2005



30.5 x 40.6 x 35.6 cm
Erick Swenson’s Ne Plus Ultra poses the decaying skull of a deer as a cryptic relic. Swenson captures every uncomfortable detail: white flesh peeled, exposing raw tissue and weathered bone. Cast in resin, Swenson’s sculpture doesn’t exude the expected revulsion of gore, but rather a beatific reverence. In its serene otherworldly aura Swenson’s perished beast evokes a more horrific haunting as a torn cheek reveals a row of carnivorous teeth, and flayed brow appears embossed with mysterious scrimshaw. Through attenuate craftsmanship, Swenson merges ideas of the romantic sublime with chilling surrealism, creating an object suggestive of dark fiction.

Erick Swenson's Biography

Erick Swenson
1972
 Born Phoenixville

Lives and works in Dallas


SOLO EXHIBITIONS


2005
 Q.E.D., Los Angeles

2004
 James Cohan Gallery

2003
 ULCA Hammer Museum, Los Angeles

2002
 Villa Stuck, Munich, Germany

1998
 Obviously a Movie, Angstrom Gallery, Dallas

1996
 Push to Prime, Diverse Works Art Space, Houston
Microwaveable, Good/Bad Art Collective, Denton


GROUP EXHIBITIONS


2005
 Springtide, Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

2004
 Summer Show, James Cohan Gallery, New York
Whitney Biennial Exhibition, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
Natural Histories: Realism Revisited, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Scottsdale

2003
 Air, James Cohan Gallery, New York
Erick Swenson and Ricky Swallow, Karen Lovegrove Gallery, Los Angeles

2002
 Summer, James Cohan Gallery, New York

2001
 Swallow Swenson, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, Australia
New Orleans Triennial, New Orleans Museum of Art, Louisiana
The Big Id, James Cohan Gallery, New York

2000
 Keith Edmier, Ricky Swallow, Erick Swenson, Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York
Out of the Ordinary: New Art From Texas, Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston
Artistic Centers: Dallas/Ft Worth, TFAA/Jones Center for Contemporary Art, Austin
Natural Deceits, Fort Worth Museum of Modern Art, Fort Worth

1999
 Description Without Place, Staff USA/AC Project Room, New York
Fire Sale 2000, Angstrom Gallery, Dallas
Good/Bad Art Collective: Joey on ICU, ABC no Rio, New York
True Stories, Arlington Museum of Art, Arlington
Senior Show, Cora Stafford Gallery, University of North Texas, Denton

1998
 Texas Dialogues Parallels, Blue Star Art Gallery, San Antonio
We Sorry, Artlies Magazine, Summer
Good/Bad Burns, Good/Bad Art Collective, Denton
Welcome to Important Town, Conduit Gallery Annex, Dallas
Its a Peeece in Itself, Good/Bad Art Collective, Denton

1997
 Wee Coma, Good/Bad Art Collective, Denton
Hallowmas, Good/Bad Art Collective, Denton
Strange Loops, Good/Bad Art Collective, Denton
Very Fake, but Real, Diverse Works Art Space, Houston
Red Rover Issues, Revolution Summer Art Space, Houston
One Person Show Featuring ..., Good/Bad Art Collective, Denton
Gay Art/Straight Play, Good/Bad Art Collective, Denton

1996
 Isolation Chamber, Good/Bad Art Collective, Denton
el clumsio, Angstrom Gallery, Dallas
Sailors on Shoreleave: the Designs of Bob Mackie, 500X Gallery, Dallas
Popo y Lupe, Good/Bad Art Collective, Denton
Mad, Good/Bad, and Dangerous to Know, Good/Bad Art Collective, Denton