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Jene Highstein

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Jene Highstein

(1942–2013, was born in Baltimore)

Grey Clam, 1990/2001

Reinforced concrete

2 000 x 1 800 x 200 cm

With support from Finja AB, Landshövdingefonderna

Jene Highstein carried out several projects simultaneously at Wanås in 1990. He cast the iron sculpture Horizontal, which stands near the Barn, and exhibited two sculptures in oak. Grey Clam originated from the form of the site and was cast from 60 tons of concrete carried into the park by wheelbarrow. The monumental size of the work, as well as its bright concrete, challenged the boundaries of what was then seen as permissible in the lush, verdant park. The sculpture is now an integrated part of the site, and an invitation to playfulness and interaction. In connection with Highstein’s passing in 2013, fellow artist Richard Nonas wrote that: “Jene’s art was an art of presence and not of specific meaning: an art of single and all-encompassing presence, tough and smart, and absolutely silent. It was an art whose meaning was that silent presence—Jene gave us that shift to insidious silence.”