| |
[…] In one room, visitors stare straight into the eyes of a naked man holding a ball of human beings in his hand. […] Some of the exhibiting artists come from far away. Sol Kjøk, born in Lillehammer, but now residing in New York City, got a whole room to herself for her drawings, [one of which is] called Waiting for the Sun. ”An excellent draftsperson,” says Ådne Løvstad as he climbs up a step ladder to tack to the wall a naked man with an intense gaze.
[Translated from Norwegian] Live Sætre
"[…] So it makes sense that Tower of Babel was promoted as a ritual; we were invited to leave behind the routine of “going to the theater” and float collectively along a rolling river of foreign tongues. Though it might seem all that chattering would add up to cacophony, the end result was an almost musical harmony. Needless to say, I was transported. My storyteller sensed this and withdrew, though not before I got her card. Her name is Sol Kjøk; she’s a New York-based artist whose work is very much worth a look […]."
John Del Signore
"At Manifest Gallery, an interesting tension plays out between Boris Zakic's paintings of mostly solitary figures in the outer gallery and the pulsing togetherness seen in Sol Kjøk's drawings just beyond in the "drawing room." One tells us how alone we are, the other what strength and fears there are in groups. Zakic incorporates his titles into his compositions in tall, handsome letters, while the name of Kjøk's show, String of Beads, comes from recurrent appearances of a slender, bright red chain, a visual and symbolic anchor for the drawings. Faultless technique from each artist, in works that keep coming to mind."
Jane Durrell
"[…] There is a shared sci-fi quality to much of the work, as it deals with contemporary life. Sol Kjok's ethereal drawings of a congregation of nude, bald women and men forming their bodies into a planetary mass look like a cross between the androgynous representatives of some future race and the randy hippies of Alex Comfort's Joy of Sex. The work is trendy and very now, and gives the sense there are cohesive, shared doings bubbling up from the studios and galleries of Cool Factory New York."
Felicia Feaster
Recommended!
Galleri 27: Visual Artist Sol Kjøk was born in Lillehammer,
but has been working in her studio in Brooklyn, New York City, for
the past few years. Her exhibition, which opened a bit more than a
week ago, is called Perlestrenger (Strings of Beads). And a contrasting
string of beads is what runs like Ariadne's thread through the 30
plus drawings and her monochromatic oil paintings of athletic nudes.
The graphite drawings and the icy blue, more plastic paintings are
born from a painstaking process: First a performance in the studio,
where the artist and other models carry out “acrobatic acts”
with climbing ropes and various equipment. Next are photographs of
these acts, which the artist subsequently uses for collages that she
again turns into these virtually classical drawings. The contemporary
air of “scenes” and setting and the abstract and often
chaotic figure groups make this something entirely different from
classical nudes.
[Translated from Norwegian]
Erik Bjørnskau
|
"Sol Kjøk is being compared to
the Nordic Romantics. In a large loft in Brooklyn, New York, she is
working with floating, dancing and intertwining human bodies that
are connected by means of a red globe."
[Translated from Norwegian]
in "Romantiker"
|
"[…] Sol Kjok and Steve Ziebarth
take a different tack, and show the human body in reaction to its
landscape – whether that is a body in confusion, relaxation,
fear or any number of emotions. Each artist’s distinctive and
skillful depiction of his or her subject intrigued me.[…] Don’t
miss these talented artists in this thoughtful gallery."
Julie
Bernzot in "Manifest Creative Research Gallery"
|
"Kjok's drawings of the human figure
recall the work from great past masters such as Michelangelo and DaVinci.
Yet, the swirling configurations and dream-like moods bring the art
into the realm of contemporary art."
Jerry
Stein in "Manifest is an art gallery -- and much more"
|
"Sol Kjøk's art is playful and
energetic. […] Then there is a universal strength; a pleasure,
a movement in her art that is clear and profound. It is obvious if
you spend any time with her creations: Kjøk loves what she
is doing. A feeling that emanates through every line, every form,
every expression she records with obsessive precision[…]
She conveys detailed information, such as the tension in the muscle,
the subtlety of expression in the bodies and the faces, a source of
light, the strength of the mind of her subjects, or the three-dimensionality
of the form. Then comes the mystery, the merriment, the miraculous
newness Kjøk brings to drawing life. She stakes a claim, and
sets it straight: drawing, the essence of all art, is of primary import
and needs to be reckoned with."
D. Dominick Lombardi
New York Times art critic, in "Cycle
of Life", 2005
|
"Artistas de diversos países
se reúnen en Casa de América para ponerse “en
el lugar del otro” (…) Madrid. Fotografía, video,
performances, cine, documentales, conciertos, graffiti y rap, se darán
cita en la Casa de América (Madrid) del miércoles 15
al domingo 19 de diciembre, dentro del Festival Mira!LUBOLO*, Arte
y Música contra la esclavitud*, con la participación
de artistas de diferentes países como (…) los creadores
multimedia como Sol Kjok (Noruega)…La mirada creativa, la idea
de trascender la realidad y plasmarla en otro lenguaje, está
presente en los dibujos de la sueca [sic] Sol Kjok (…)”
Mayda Álvares
|
"Kjøk (whose work) features whirling
tumbles of human forms in a series of drawings (…) also attended
school here, and got her Master of Fine Arts in painting at Parsons
School of Design. She has previously lived and gone to school in Georgia,
Vienna, Colombia, Paris, and Cincinnati, but knew that New York was
where she wanted to stay."
Jenny Sherman
in "Painting the Town Norwegian"
|
"Les œuvres que vous me faites
découvrir sont admirables [...]. J'espère vous suivre dans votre travail."
Jacques Derrida, Paris, 2003
|
The Swirling series (…) shows both
the male and the female body in a flood of different poses and positions.
A varied perspective spans single figures captured individually to
the entire sheet being filled with human bodies forming a single,
massive swirl; muscular, limber bodies at play, athletic games and
at battle. (…) Kjøk certainly knows how to render the
human body: Such masterly rendition is seldom seen."
[Translated from Norwegian]
Grete Nordtømme in "Stella East og Solveig Kjøk"
|
"In her drawing Swirling XVIII, Sol
Kjøk entwines figures who are chasing a sphere. Again in this
work the artist deals with the complexities of self-analysis; Sol
Kjøk investigates issues of self-identification and the process
of chasing an ideal."
Ellen M. Rosenholtz
in "Hopscotch: Associative Leaps in the Construction of Narrative,"
Painted Bride Art Center, 2001
|
"A handful of drawings made the cut.
Mr. Kuspit gave an honorable mention to the dense composition of Renaissance-like
figures by Sol Kjøk of Brooklyn (...)"
William
Zimmer
|
"NOT TO BE MISSED...The drawings
in Sol Kjøk's Swirling series, which are exhibited at Tegnerforbundet
through December 16. Kjøk works with the human body as an expression
for the human condition, its vulnerability and its possibilities.
The artist is born in Lillehammer, lives in New York, and was recently
awarded a grant from Robert Rauschenberg’s Foundation."
[Translated from Norwegian]
Aftenposten, November 6, 2001
|
"In general, I inclined toward [works]
that have a strong sense of texture (…) and/or a certain intricacy,
perhaps because such factors make for a certain perceptual ambiguity
and emotional excitement. Sol Kjøk’s Swirling XIX drawings
have them to perfection. Without ambiguity and an undertone of irrationality
art—especially modern art—tends to lose intellectual substance
and expressive power."
Dr. Donald B.
Kuspit
|
|