Kinetic artwork in danger!

Per-Olof Ultvedt is the artist who created “En Baddare i Badet”, the neon artwork that has been shining since 1969 at the entrance of the old swimming pool in Västerås.

The swimming pool was demolished and a new one was built a little further. Today there remains only the wall of the original entrance where is still in place this work of kinetic art.

After studying at the Konsthögskola (Royal Academy of Arts) in Stockholm, he moved to Paris for a few years. In 1950, he made his first solo exhibition in a gallery in Copenhagen.

From 1954, he worked mainly on metal sculptures and mechanical structures in wood and paper. Per-Olof Ultvedt began working early with Swiss artist Jean Tinguely, whom he met in Paris in 1955.

In 1962, he worked with Robert Rauschenberg, Jean Tinguely, Niki de Saint Phalle and Daniel Spoerri at the installation of the exhibition Dylaby (dynamic maze), at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam.

With Niki de Saint Phalle and Jean Tinguely, he collaborated on the installation of “Hon – en Katedral”, the legendary sculpture at the Moderna Museet in Stockholm in 1966.

From the late 1960s, he worked in various genres: kinetic art, comics, collages…

Per-Olov Ultvedt became the foremost representative of the kinetic art in Sweden.

Per Olof Ultvedt
VLT
Sverige Radio

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