Nico Widerberg

Biography
NICO WIDERBERG (b. 1960) is educated in drawing, graphics and sculpture at the Statens Håndverks- og Kunstindustriskole, and studied sculpture under Boge Berg at the Statens Academy of Arts. After his debut exhibition at Galleri Albin Upp in Oslo in 1984, he has had a number of solo exhibitions in prestigious galleries both in Norway and abroad. He has had exhibitions in the Kunstnerforbundet and Gallery Haaken in Oslo, Hå Gamle Prestegård in Jæren, Lillehammer Art Museum and Henie-Onstad Art Center in Høvikodden, University Gallery in Newcastle in England, and several exhibitions in Galleri Christian Dam in Copenhagen. In addition, there is participation in many collective exhibitions at home and abroad.

Widerberg works with sculpture in stone (including granite and diabase), bronze and glass, with oil painting and with graphics. Central to Widerberg's art are depersonalized representations of people, heads and torsos. It is in the field of tension between the pre-classical and the modernist that he has found his own, individual expression. A strong characteristic of Widerberg's sculptures is the focus on the material itself. The stone is of course an inseparable part of the artwork, and he alternates between processed and untouched elements, between polished surfaces and deliberately left marks from the hammer and other tools. He himself has described his work as a sculptor as "a journey into the stone", where the challenge is to find the secret will of the stone and to try to give life to the material.

Through his decorations for public and private clients, he has helped to leave his mark on workplaces, parks and other public spaces, and thus our collective consciousness. Among his most famous and profiled decorations are the monuments of Thor Heyerdahl and Trygve Lie, the decorations for the Regjeringsbygget, Gardermoen main airport, Statoil and Aker Maritime ASA, monuments for Aker Brygge and Asker town centre, as well as the sculpture "Pillar Man" at Northumbria University in Newcastle in 2004 After the terrorist attacks in Norway on 22 July 2011, Widerberg's memorial to the victims was erected in 53 places in Norway, following an anonymous monetary donation.

Widerberg has also made a number of sculptures in glass, and he has exhibited at Hadeland Glassverk and Steningen Castle in Sweden. Many probably also associate him with the design of the elegant Mozell bottle. Widerberg is represented in the National Museum, Lillehammer Art Museum, Kistefos Museum, Nordea Art Collection, Statoil Art Collection, Parabola Estate Newcastle, Johnson Collection USA and several private collections at home and abroad.