Per-René Larsen
Denmark b. 1949
‘A polarisation has arisen with studio glass. On the one hand are those who reject anything having to do with process-oriented work and who try to achieve artistic legitimacy by concentrating on the established language of art as expressed in sculpture, installation, etc. On the other hand are those who concentrate on pushing beyond the bounds of conventional craftsmanship in the name of purely aesthetic criteria, often without daring to infuse their works with the sharpness that could truly move barriers.
I see this polarisation as a misplaced focus on the context of the times – at its worst, a dishonest parrotry. An artistic statement cannot be inhibited by the fact that the world does not take the medium seriously. On the other hand, the process-oriented work can by virtue of respect and devotion to the material infuse a work with the physicality and poetry that modern art rejects, but which is a vital prerequisite for our mental survival.’
Per-René Larsen is one of the first-generation studio glass artists in Denmark. He graduated from the Danish School of Applied Art (now The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts) in 1975, after which he studied in Sweden at the leading Scandinavian school of glass, the Orrefors Glass School (now the National School of Glass).
With the establishment of Snoldelev Glassworks together with Skak Snitker and others, Per-René has become one of the leading free artists who use glass as their medium. From the beginning of his career, he has consistently taken an experimental and exploratory approach to his work with glass. In 1984 he established the Fanefjord Glass workshop, which is still his studio. His sculptural hot glass is often based on ‘the vase’, while in his land-art installations he explores the optical possibilities of glass in dialogue with the surroundings.
In his series Easy Living, Per-René creates glass collages consisting of a mix of new works of glass and older pieces. In a new amalgamation and composition, they stand forth as a new work of art.
These works draw on the historical references of glass, while at the same time reference his own story - working for almost five decades with applied-art glassware and sculptural glass. The series Easy Living is a contemporary example of present-day glass sculpture. The medium is challenged to the limit and the references are in place but, at the same time, it is beautiful and visually challenging.
