HB381 is pleased to announce Bjørn Friborg: Imploded, an exhibition of new glass sculptures and the artist’s first solo presentation in the United States. Friborg (Danish, b. 1983) challenges historical methods of glassmaking with a dramatically physical approach that pushes the limits of material and technique. His process is as much performance as a functional act; with unbridled intensity he pierces, ruptures, and manipulates the molten substance with results that are otherworldly, his tour de force actions viscerally reflected in the transformed material.

In his highly personal works, Danish born artist Bjørn Friborg fixates on the intimate act of exposing and revealing what lies within. His free-blown and sculpted works are violently penetrated and open themselves to the viewer, much like a painful wound, inviting us to share in the precise moment of utter vulnerability.

The process of sculpting the glass is an act of collaboration, accuracy, and intimacy. In a split second the team creates the perfect penetration that reflects the work's self-disclosure. There is no planning; everything is immediate and the team must act without hesitation. This explosive rush is an integral part of the work, which explores and expands the boundaries of glassmaking."

(Maja Heuer, Swedish art historian and independent art curator)

Bjørn Friborg (Danish, b. 1983) is a glass artist who defies historical methods of making and reinvents process with a dramatically physical approach that pushes the limits of material and technique and is as much a performance as it is a means to an end. With bravado he penetrates, manipulates and ruptures the molten substance for results that are otherworldly, sublimely beautiful, and where the materiality viscerally and outwardly reflects his tour de force movements.

Friborg received a BFA from The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts School of Architecture, Design and Conservation in 2013 after studying in Sweden at both the Åfors Glasbruk, V.1 Mästare Ingvar Carlsson “Kalle Pack” and the Kosta Glass School. His work has been exhibited nationally in Denmark and throughout the Scandinavian region as well as internationally.