Aase Texmon Rygh (1925-2019) is considered a pioneer of Norwegian Modernist sculpture. Her vision of a simplified, abstracted sculptural language was developed when naturalistic sculpture still dominated the field in Norway. Her groundbreaking work was developed independently in her studio, and Texmon Rygh created and maintained a distinct expression, which slowly attracted both national and international recognition.
For the 2020 edition of The Armory Show, OSL contemporary will exhibit a survey of Texmon Rygh’s abstract sculptures from the acclaimed Möbius series, in addition to other works showcasing her studio process. The presentation aims to reflect upon the artist’s exploration of varying motifs as well as showcasing works that were created decades apart.
Texmon Rygh was educated at the Norwegian National Academy of Art in 1944 - 46 and at The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen in 1948 - 49. She first exhibited at the 1950 Autumn Exhibition at Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo with Trepike I, a stylized and simplified, yet distinctly figurative, female figure in wood. Already at this point the artist showed signs of what would become central to her oeuvre; an exploration of what Texmon Rygh calls ‘form principles’, and the balance between formal expression and the properties of the material. Her style moved rapidly towards further simplification and abstraction, where variations of geometric and symbolically charged forms – like the yin and yang shape, and especially the Möbius – recur in numerous varieties. For Texmon Rygh these forms hold interest as expressions of cosmic and mathematical principles, and as such, the deep forces of nature and man.
As one of the first modernists in Norway working with sculpture, Aase Texmon Rygh is a pioneer who increasingly is being praised for her artwork internationally, as well as in Scandinavia. In 1963 she was part of the 7th Bienal de São Paulo, and in 2012 she was represented at the dOCUMENTA exhibition of international contemporary art in Kassel, Germany. She has put her mark on Norway’s public places with monumental sculptures at universities, public squares, and art institutions such as Henie Onstad Art Centre, Ekeberg Sculpture Park, and Trondheim Art Museum. In 2001 she was appointed a Knight, First Class of the Order of St. Olav. 2014 saw her large-scale exhibition Modernism Forever at the National Museum of Art, Oslo. The museum later coordinated a traveling solo-exhibition throughout Norway titled The Form of Eternity, 2016-2019. In 2019 her work was also part of the exhibition ONLY MANKIND MAKES STRAIGHT LINES at the Norwegian Sculptors Society, and had a praised solo exhibition at OSL contemporary, Oslo.
The participation is kindly supported by OCA, Office for Contemporary Art Norway.