A horizon line creates a mental image of the colour and shifting light of the Western Sea off the coast of Sweden in Juri Markkula’s work Amarcord. Installation work at Varberg station is ongoing.
The artwork on the western side of the platform is approximately 300 metres long and reflects the coast and horizon line. The new train track meets the platforms nine meters below ground and the space around the track and the platform forms an inverted version of the wall of Varberg Fortress.
Castings, carpentry, material samples and construction of the works are now in full swing in and around Varberg station. During the Swedish Transport Administration’s Open Site event on 2 June 2024, the public was invited to the building site to get an idea of what the finished station environment will look like.
This investment in public art in Varberg is a close collaboration between the Public Art Agency, Jernhusen, the Transport Administration and Varberg municipality with the Transport Administration as the client. It is part of the Swedish Transport Administration’s focus on art in connection with infrastructure projects.
The project is one of many examples of how the Public Art Agency collaborates with other state agencies and municipalities within the area described by the Policy for Designed Living Environment.
About the Artist Juri Markkula
Juri Markkula was born in 1970 in Turku, Finland, studied at the Royal Institute of Art and Pernby’s painting school in Stockholm and lives and works on Gotland. Markkula’s work is based in painting and examines the dynamic relationship between the viewer and physical materials. In his studio, as well as in public design commissions, he often experiments with the relationship between the movements, surfaces and perceptions of bodies. Colour, texture and materiality participate in a three-way dialogue in Juri Markkula’s paintings. The synergy between these three elements forms a common thread of dynamic tension throughout his practice, providing a broader framework for each individual work.
Excerpt: A horizon line creates a mental image of the colour and shifting light of the Western Sea off the coast of Sweden in Juri Markkula’s work Amarcord. Installation work at Varberg station is ongoing.