Delight at the Museum

Cajsa von Zeipel’s work is known for being provocative, so when the suggestion of exhibiting her sculptures within the formal setting of Carl Milles’ Millesgården came up, nobody expected it to work as well as it has – least of all the artist herself, says Axel Mörner

 

 

The contemporary artist Cajsa von Zeipel (b. 1983) has seduced the art world with her oversized white sculptures of women who have that air of underground-club-scene cyberpunk. But then, the artist herself has bags of charm and possesses a model-like beauty and an irresistibly positive attitude that could persuade any apprehensive museum director.

Von Zeipel exploded onto the Swedish art scene with her sculpture Seconds in Ecstasy, which depicts a giant young girl, all white, hanging upside down on a stripper’s pole and slowly turning round and around. It was exhibited in the atrium of the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm, among the historical examples of Greek sculpture; the whole room was illuminated by a cerise floodlight. This piece may have been from her degree show, but it sent a strong message that there was a new shift occurring in the attitude of today’s artists.

By doing figurative and oversized sculptures in minimal clothing and extreme platform shoes, she has managed to create her own version of today’s youth culture. Her women are reminiscent of the people seen in Wolfgang Tillmans’ photographs from the 1990s showing young Berliners during the height of the techno period – that new breed of party seekers exploring ways of dressing up and behaving differently. Inspiration also seems to have come from transgender and crossover cultures and, of course, some ground-breaking sci-fi movies.

Her sculptures usually have the same facial expression, one that suggests more of a male-like character in a young woman’s slender body. Their zombie-like appearances make the atmosphere in any room they are in heavy; they’re almost like predators on guard. Their outfits seem to be a mix of Japanese manga and hooker wear – and they are almost always accessorised with those extremely high platforms. There may be a hint David Bowie’s 1970s creation Ziggy Stardust in there, too.

 

 

Millesgården is a museum that was originally the home of the famous Swedish sculptor Carl Milles, a self-taught man who went on to enjoy a successful international career that allowed him to build a grand home and studio on the island of Lidingö in Stockholm. It’s a beautiful place that resembles a Greek temple – indeed, Milles was a big fan of the antique world, and collected marble pieces and all kinds of artefacts from Mediterranean countries, which are on show throughout the site’s buildings. His most famous works – godlike, athlete types or grotesque-looking mythological animals – can be found all over Sweden and in major cities around the world. With this animal theme in mind, when von Zeipel was invited to show at Millesgården, she decided to put her work in the large studio filled with Milles’ sculptures of mythological scenes and creatures, which is also how she came up with the show’s title: Zoo Collective. She also decided to include a series of sculptures that reference some of Milles’ more popular works: Dog, Bat, Elephant and Rabbit, among others. The result is a playful take on the question “What could we do if we were alone in the museum?” Her girls, now partly painted in black (drips and stains included), stand around with a challenging stance. The combination of her menagerie with the classical Milles sculptures means the studio is a busy place, but the room is charged with a welcome new vitality.

 

 

The show’s opening coincided with the release of von Zeipel’s new book Pro Anatomy (Capricious Publishing), a beautiful tome that documents her work from 2007. It offers an intelligent discussion of her ideas on how to balance the idea of what is attractive with what is repulsive, and how our fascination/obsession with the human body can be traced from the ancient world to today’s contemporary art scene. Photographs of her installations and sculptures are interspersed with images of a new work – 1:1 – a project involving a CAT scan of her body, with the layers of skin, veins and muscles separated, the sections of the body appearing architectural. It can’t be avoided that von Zeipel has an urge to understand the functions of the body and the psychology regarding appearance in today’s world. When it comes to artistic body consciousness, she is queen.

 

 

Credits:

Words by Axel Mörner.

Still-life photography by Sophie Mörner & Tobias Bernstrup.

Portrait photography by Lyndsy Welgos.

Cajsa von Zeipel vs Carl Milles, until 22nd March; Millesgården, Herserudsvägen 32, Lidingö