Mosaic by Erik Olsson (English) by kultivera

Erik A. Olsson, Mosaik
Above the entrance to the decayed building that once was the grand department of telecommunications we see a mosaic made by the artist Erik Olson. Erik is one of the founders of Halmstadgruppen, a group of Swedish artists devoted to surrealism.
Their interest in surrealism doesn’t show in their earlier work. Erik and his cousin Waldemar Lorentzon had the artist Ferdnand Legér as a teacher during the early 20’s. Before that Erik’s brother Axel went to Berlin to study for the Russian artist and sculptor Alexander Archipenko.
Erik, Axel and Waldemar are the core of Halmstadgruppen before Esias Thorén and Sven Jonsson join them. The last member of the group is Stellan Mörner from Örebro and he is the only one who isn’t from Halmstad. At the beginning they are very influenced by Legér and cubism but from the late 20’s the influence of surrealism is stronger. 1930 they have their first exhibition in the art hall of Gothenburg and they also show their works abroad. 1935 they contribute to an exhibition in Copenhagen and one year later in London their works is shown in the same exhibition as the surrealist artists André Breton and Salvador Dalí.
1935 Erik makes the artwork The Seeker known as his masterpiece and alter ego. The work pictures the five senses to feel, hear, taste, see and smell. The Seeker is a theme that Erik works with again and again. Footprints in the sand show that humankind is going somewhere, but where?
From being a homogenic group totally focused on surrealism the members later started to seek their own expressions. Still the group exists for fifty years. The separation starts when Stellan Mörner dies in 1979. Sven Jonsson and Esias Thorén passes away two years later, Waldemar Lorentzon 1984 and both of the brothers Erik and Axel dies in 1986.
If you want to see the art of Halmstadgruppen today you should go to Mjellby art museum nearby Halmstad. Before you go on take a moment to look upon this artwork and see if you can see the letters spelling out the word “TELE”.