Translation from VLT news paper article in Swedish
Robert Ferm - a culture entrepreneur
Erik Jersenius 17 January 2017
Robert Ferm in his gallery in the Gallerian mall. Photo: Erik Jersenius
Last summer, Robert Ferm appeared as an outsider in the Västerås art world. Suddenly he opened his own gallery in the middle of the shops and cafés in the Gallerian mall, sold his own art, hosted film screenings and has also made some 50 art installations around the city.
‘I am a cultural entrepreneur’, he says.
VÄSTERÅS.
Ozone Gallery opened at the end of May in the Gallerian mall and after just a few weeks had several hundred visitors wanting to see Robert Ferm's dance-inspired photography and sculptures. Even if the engineer Robert Ferm also has studied att the National College of Art and Design, Dublin, and has worked with digital scenography, his creativity has been expressed in his own company as an interaction designer. Indulging in art was something new.
Robert Ferm still has his own company and he is also his own patron, but his art has attracted a lot of interest and he has gained his own audience.
‘I have received 200-300 requests to buy my work. Many people like it and say they have never seen anything like it before. There are those who want to buy several works, for example someone with a house in Tidö-Lindö, who would like to have several of my pictures on the wall and then one of my sculptures in the panoramic window overlooking Lake Mälaren. I sell my photographic art in the same way as lithographs, in a limited numbered signed edition and as posters’, says Robert Ferm.
People in the Västerås art world have also expressed their appreciation of Robert Ferm's work and asked him how he technically created his special photo art.
‘I want to make quality art, and by quality I mean works that touch people.’
Robert Ferm's unique photographic art has been widely appreciated. Photo: Robert Ferm
So far, Robert Ferm has only used the gallery to exhibit his own work, but he has received requests from many artists to exhibit with him.
‘There seems to be a pent-up need for exhibition spaces in Västerås. But I'm busy with my own work and if I become a gallerist in that sense, it will all be about sales and contacts. I am a cultural entrepreneur. If I need an exhibition for my art I will open my own gallery, if I want to publish my photography in book form I will start my own publishing house. I organise all the steps in the process myself.’
Last summer, Robert Ferm emerged as an outsider in the Västerås art world. Suddenly he opened his own gallery in the middle of the shops and cafés in the Gallerian, sold his own art, hosted film screenings and has also made some 50 art installations around the city.
‘I am a cultural entrepreneur,’ he says.
Mr Ferm's gallery has become something of a meeting place and many people also come in to discuss and exchange ideas. Children have come there to dance and try to mimic the movements of his sculptures. The gallery also became a cinema during the Västerås Film Festival in October and the short film festival before Christmas.
The ambition now is for Ozone Gallery to also become a dance residency for choreographers and dance companies around the country, and there are plans to show dance films in the gallery.
‘Ever since I was little, dance has been my great interest.’
Art installation by Robert Ferm outside the City Hall. Photo: Robert Ferm
During the last six months, Robert Ferm has also made about 50 art installations around Västerås. He has exhibited his sculptures in front of the City Hall, in Melkerhuset and the Cathedral, at the Concert Hall, under the bridge to Lillåudden and at the prehistoric tumulus Anundshög.
‘The interesting thing about my sculptures is that they blend in with their surroundings. People see them and discuss them, but they almost always get the idea that the sculptures have always been there and they belong to the environment,’ says Robert Ferm.
He will soon be changing exhibitions and showing new dance-inspired photographic artworks in his gallery.
‘But I will hang the old works on the ceiling instead, so that visitors will see art wherever they look.’
Robert Ferm's unique photographic art has been widely appreciated.
Art installation by Robert Ferm outside the City Hall.