Albert Paley Symposium at Steneby School in Sweden

During two weeks in October, Albert Paley traveled to the Steneby School in Sweden to create a body of work using their workshop in rural southern Sweden. The ten sculptures he forged will go on exhibition first at a gallery in Gothenburg, Sweden, and then travel to Swedish Museum in Philadelphia, PA.

In the final weekend of his residency, Paley and the administration of Steneby invited the public in to watch him work and listen to lectures on iron in public spaces. Sam Pearce, Edward Blower, and I made the trip to Gothenburg City and then on to Steneby to check things out. Here are some pictures from the trip.

Paley used the power hammer to exploit the plasticity of the material. Everything was forged totally free-form. Most elements were forged in just one heat. The result was the creation of a distinct narrative characterized by the raw honesty of forgings that went directly from the hammer dies to the assembly table.