Ultima: Gjertrud Hals

The title of the exhibition – ULTIMA – is derived from Gjertrud Hals’ ample eponymous vessels, delicately knitted from cotton and linen threads and hardened with resin. These one-meter tall, featherweight vessels hardly touch the ground. Their size and their lightness contradict each other in certain ways. They seem to levitate and appear almost like a vision. Their ambiguous presence is further enhanced by their incapacity to contain anything (other than themselves) due to their soft, perforated structure. They are self-contained so to speak. Yet, in spite of their delicate transparency they convey a feeling of quiet strength.