Anna Ingrid Caroline Schlyter, (born 9October 1961) is a
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
artist focusing on sculpture and installations. She is best known for her furniture sculptures that have been exhibited in numerous countries.
Early years and education
Caroline Schlyter was educated at
Konstfack
Konstfack, or University of Arts, Crafts and Design, is a university college for higher education in the area of art, crafts and design in Stockholm, Sweden.
History
Konstfack has had several different names since it was founded in 1844 by the ...
, Department of Fine Art and at
Royal Institute of Art
The Royal Institute of Art ( sv, Kungliga Konsthögskolan) is an institution in Stockholm, Sweden for higher education in art,The House of Culture, Stockholm in 1989. The chair was shown as an installation where it was covered with of red velvet from the wall down over the chair and out onto the floor. That same year, Schlyter entered the international art/design scene when participating in an international furniture design competition in
Asahikawa
is a city in Kamikawa Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital of the subprefecture, and the second-largest city in Hokkaido, after Sapporo. It has been a core city since April 1, 2000. The city is currently well known for the Asahiy ...
, Japan, where she received an Award Winning Entry for her chair ''Little h'', now executed in wood,Borgard, Sabina, "Buche – soft geformt at best", ''Arcade'' (Germany) No 4, 1990, Cover storyHedqvist, Hedvig, "Form utan gräns", ''Svenska Dagbladet Fredags'' (Sweden) February 9, 1990, Cover story moulded from one single piece of birch plywood. "My aim was to create a clean, unbroken line and avoid joints and connecting details...", she said about her work.
Schlyter's design caught the eye of magazine editors and ''Little h'' was featured on the cover of several international magazines. Three years later, in 1992, Schlyter was awarded the ''Utmärkt Svensk Form'' ("Excellent Swedish Design") award for ''Little h''. The jury's motivation: "Nearest a sitsculpture, which independently and skillfully plays on the modern, nordic bent-wood art. The sovereign curvature gives the impression of stretching the wood's possibilities to the utmost."
Career and exhibitions
The chair ''Little h'' was soon after accompanied by other furniture pieces, designed in 1990, with similar one-piece moulded plywood constructions; ''The Lover'' – an armchair, ''The Aunt'' – a dressing table, ''Tripp, Trapp and Trull'' – tables, ''Fido'' – a tea-trolley, ''Little m'' – a child's chair, which all became The ''h-family''. Leo Gullbring wrote, "Caroline Schlyter's distinctly personal and original designs challenge Swedish furniture traditions."Gullbring, Leo, "Caroline Schlyter – Linjen bildar tomrum, bildar form", ''Nordisk Interiör'' (Sweden) 2000 Issue No. 1, pp. 50–52 A major exhibition of her work entitled ''Familjen h-son'', produced by the
Swedish Exhibition Agency
The Swedish Exhibition Agency ( sv, Riksutställningar) was a government agency whose task was to promote development and cooperation within the field of exhibitions.
The Swedish Exhibition Agency was a government agency under the Swedish Minist ...
was first held at the ''Lönnströms Konstmuseum'', Finland, and later travelled around Swedish museums. An accompanying booklet, was published in conjunction with the exhibition.
Caroline Schlyter's ''h-family'' has been exhibited at galleries and museums from Europe to Japan to the United States, including:
*''Escales autour du monde'', Le Carrousel du
Louvre
The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...
, Paris, France (1993)
*''Svensk form på Svenskt Tenn hösten 1995'', Svenskt Tenn, Stockholm, Sweden (1995)
*''D'una sola peca'', Aspectos, Barcelona, Spain (1997)
*''Concrete Art and Contemporary Design'', Verner Amell Gallery, London, U.K. (2000)
*''Annual Group Event'', Gallery of Functional Art, Los Angeles (2002)
*''Nordic Cool: Hot Women Designers'',
National Museum of Women in the Arts
The National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA), located in Washington, D.C., is "the first museum in the world solely dedicated" to championing women through the arts. NMWA was incorporated in 1981 by Wallace and Wilhelmina Holladay. Since openin ...
, Washington, D.C. (2004)
*''The International Art+Design Fair 1900–2007'', The Park Avenue Armory, New York (2007)
*''Design Miami/Basel'', Basel, Switzerland (2011).
Her work is featured in several significant collections including the Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, Sweden;
Vitra Design Museum
The Vitra Design Museum is a privately owned museum for design in Weil am Rhein, Germany.
Former Vitra CEO, and son of Vitra founders Willi and Erika Fehlbaum, Rolf Fehlbaum founded the museum in 1989 as an independent private foundation. The ...
,
Weil am Rhein
Weil am Rhein (High Alemannic: ''Wiil am Rhii'') is a German town and commune. It is on the east bank of the River Rhine, and extends to the point at which the Swiss, French and German borders meet. It is the most southwesterly town in Germany an ...
, Germany; Design Museum, London, U.K.; and V&A Museum of Childhood
Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...
, London, U.K.
Works
In addition to the ''h-family'', Schlyter has in her artistic production worked with many different materials, investigating void in the architectural space. Examples of her installations and exhibitions include:
*''Integrated Spatium'' (Little h in steel, velvet) Kulturhuset/The House of Culture, Stockholm, (1989)
*''Sculpture 1992'' (glass, plaster, wood, gouache ) Konstfack/University College of Arts, Crafts and Design, Stockholm (1992)
*''The Ballerina'' (bronze), Commissioned by Stockholm University (1993)
*''Knock on Wood'' (relief in sheet aluminium), Råbäck Railway Station, Skaraborg (1994)
*''Pockory'' (charcoal on paper enclosed in plastic), Stockholm Smart Show, Stockholm, (1996)
*''A paraphrase'' (mixed media – photograph on canvas, charcoal, graphite ), Stockholm - European Capital of Culture'98, Stockholm (1998)
*''Prolog'' (ink on paper), The Life Gallery, Stockholm (1999)
*''Barhäng'' (ink, paper, wood ), PA & Co, Stockholm (2006)
*''Paradiso Inferno Purgatorio'' (photography/c-prints), Konstnärshuset, Stockholm (2009)
*''I miss U'' (silk-screen), Konstnärshuset, Stockholm (2011)
*''50-50-50'' (mixed-media), Konstnärshuset, Stockholm (2012)
In 2015, Schlyter continues to work on a project consisting of sculpture in an architectural video installation, which she first showed at the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm 2013, in a piece called ''Intermolecular Forces''.
References
*Bryant, Kathy, "When Creators Convene, It's All Eyes Toward the Future", ''Los Angeles Times'' (U.S.A.) March 21, 2002 p. 2
*Fleury, Marie-Claude, "Chère Caroline", ''Beaux Arts'' (France) No 120, 1994 p. 28
*Gordan, Dan, (2014) ''Svenska stolar och deras formgivare 1899–2013'', Stockholm: Norstedts, p. 299.
*Birks, Kimberlie, (2018) ''Design for Children'', London: Phaidon Press Limited, p. 264,