Henrik Kramer Westergaard

By Tom Jørgensen, Kunstavisen:

Henrik Kramer Westergaard is a true representative of what is called a multi-artist. He paints, makes sculptures, installations, land art, huge ceramic reliefs, and then he teaches.

If one were to compare him to another Danish artist, it would have to be Asger Jorn because of his obvious glowing enthusiasm, passion for the material, diverse interests and an unsentimental, all-or-nothing approach to the subject. For Asger Jorn it was never about being technically perfect, but about being alive, death-defying, bloody, risking everything.

He is like his works. Without limits, sprouting in all directions, restless, excited, at once raw and poetic. And that the audience appreciates his art is evident from the fact that he has sold works all over the world. His wooden sculptures are both disciplined, investigating the geometric potential of form, and at the same time overflowing with an energy coming from within. They are at once well-thought-out concrete abstract sculptures, while nature's organic and uncontrollable processes constantly seem to undermine this very order. We are simply in the tension between order and chaos, and it feels as if the result is constantly on the verge. This is also precisely what makes them so exciting.