BJØRN OKHOLM SKAARUP

B. 1973

Danish

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Skaarup’s animals have been anthropomorphized, or given human characteristics such as the “dignity and supremacy of the majestic lion and the chivalrous nature of the ermine”, Skaarup notes. In each of these sculptures the individual animal’s unique characteristics have been emphasized - the fast cheetah, for example, has been given a scooter to go even faster, the kangaroo is on a pogo stick to perform a formerly instinctive and natural activity and the height and long neck of the giraffe are exaggerated by the addition of stilts.

“The sculptures are a celebration of life and nature and its many intriguing shapes and creatures, all placed in peculiar and surreal encounters between nature and culture. The result is a group of bronze sculptures that combines the gracious and exclusive with the communicative, distorted, and humorous," comments Skaarup.

Having studied Art History in Copenhagen and subsequently Florence, Okholm Skaarup conducted post-doctoral research in London and at Columbia University in New York. Skaarup is a member of The Royal British Society of Sculptors and in 2011 was featured in “101 Artists”, an anthology of the top contemporary Danish artists. He has exhibited extensively internationally and his work is found amongst many important collections including the National Museum of Denmark (Copenhagen), the former royal residence in Denmark, Koldinghus, the museum Cenacolo of Ognissanti in Florence, and the Bruce Museum, Connecticut.

He has been given several large sculpture commissions in Denmark, most recently a series of four large-scale bronze reliefs depicting the life of Danish king, Christian IV which are displayed in the Koldinghus Museum. Okholm Skaarup’s work has been shown in galleries in Denmark, Italy, the UK, and the United States.  In addition to his career as a self-taught sculptor, Okholm Skaarup is an accomplished author and illustrator of books on history, archaeology, and anatomy.