Jonas Nobel, ”Display of Loss—This Play We Lost”

Jonas Nobel
Jonas Nobel, view of Display of Loss—This Play We Lost,
2010, image: Galleri Charlotte Lund

A narrative installation inspired by his mythical novel that also serves as an entry point, Jonas Nobel’s fourth solo exhibition, “Display of Loss—This Play We Lost,” offers his svelte sculptural version of a raft, as well as a geometric mountain range and a porthole-framed sketch with view of a tumultuous sea. The works are connected to the novel Nobel has written, which shares a title with the exhibition and tells the story of a burdened crew destined to fail in delivering unwanted merchandise to an infinite number of harbors, instead ending up shipwrecked on an island, disillusioned, and haunted by memories from their earlier lives. More »

Published on december 27, 2010.
Art Artforum.com Exhibition Review
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”The Collective Coral Colony”

Nevin Aladag
Nevin Aladag, Mezzanine (Hochparterre), 2009, image: Tensta Konsthall

Curated by Adnan Yildiz with the assistance of Kim Einarsson of Konsthall C, “The Collective Coral Colony” is inspired by Alfred Döblin’s historical novel Berlin Alexanderplatz, initially published in 1929 then later made for television and directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder; this work serves as a launch pad for contemporary analysis of five chosen artists’ relationship with both their respective cities and the notion of a collective insight. More »

Published on november 29, 2010.
Art ArtSlant Exhibition Review
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Viktor Rosdahl, Ein, Zwei, Drei

Viktor Rosdahl
Viktor Rosdahl, Ein, Zwei, Drei, 2010, image: Christian Larsen

Christian Larsen’s current exhibition “In Darkness, the Embrace of the Streets” displays recent paintings by Malmö-based artist Viktor Rosdahl. One in particular Ein, Zwei, Drei, 2010 can easily serve as a striking representative of both the dark climate and bleak temperament of Stockholm during winter. Using thick layers of textured ink on canvas expressing shades of white or pale grey on a dark grey or black background, Rosdahl is sensitive to both painterly detail and emotion. Miniscule brush strokes are detectable, suggesting an apocalyptic awe when considering the work’s grand dimensions. One mood portrayed appears to be influenced by forces which are not in anyone’s control, such as inevitable change, decay and regeneration found in nature, and perhaps unforeseeable mayhem or disaster. More »

Published on november 29, 2010.
Art ArtSlant Polaris Series
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”Thrice Upon a Time”

Thrice Upon a Time
Gabriel Orozco, Black Kites Perspective (right), 1997, image: Collection Magasin 3 Stockholm Konsthall (Courtesy of Marian Goodman Gallery)

Co-curated by Richard Julin, Elisabeth Millqvist, and Tessa Praun, ”Thrice Upon a Time” gracefully weaves the curators’ self-designed themes, maintaining a balance of 202 art works from 66 international artists working within various media—some established, others given an opportunity to show work for the first time in Sweden. More »

Published on november 1, 2010.
Art Exhibition Review Unpublished
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A5, ”Aeon Profit—Piano Forte”

A5
“Aeon Profit—Piano Forte,” 2010, image: A5

Works which are strictly labeled as either ‘design’ or ‘craft’ should not be segregated from the realm of contemporary art. Despite the trend to quickly locate and categorize one’s practice, creators actually exist in a melting pot which often stems from a shared goal, concern or historical influence. Academics argue that boundaries between spheres of practice are, in essence, blurred—that each ‘context’ has become a moving target. The exhibition “Aeon Profit—Piano Forte” appears to be influenced by Oulipian constraint-based practice—one which has moulded the works of many, such as writers Italo Calvino and Georges Perec, as well as performance artists Vito Acconci and Janet Cardiff. More »

Published on oktober 19, 2010.
Art ArtSlant Exhibition Review
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Sara-Vide Ericson, Liar VIII

Sara-Vide Ericson
Sara-Vide Ericson, Liar VIII, 2010, image: Galleri Magnus Karlsson

Sara-Vide Ericson’s first solo exhibition “Liar” at Galleri Magnus Karlsson evokes charged emotions. She paints like a moderately macabre Alex Katz with all the icy clarity of a Northern European. Her crisp paintings illuminate post-modern portraits, figures bent awkwardly into compromising positions—whether confined by their own solitude or in an incomprehensible power struggle with another. The bright, cool light in the paintings belies what remains unrevealed, as it seems impossible to pinpoint the relationships between figures. Yet, one senses that these rapports are either familial or sexual—always intimate and paradoxical. More »

Published on oktober 19, 2010.
Art ArtSlant Polaris Series
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Sarah Cooper and Nina Gorfer, ”Under Nomadic Surfaces”

Sarah Cooper / Nina Gorfer
Cooper and Gorfer, Women Boats Left, 2008-10, image: Christian Larsen

Based in Göteborg, Sweden, the artists Sarah Cooper and Nina Gorfer began to collaborate in 2006, for they share an attraction to issues of place and the act of site-specific storytelling. “Under Nomadic Surfaces,” the duo’s latest exhibition, presents images from their travels to Kyrgyzstan and Qatar; all of the works depict individuals who crossed their paths. The artists emphasize the personal narratives of each subject, eschewing the obvious political or religious connotations that could be extracted from these pictures. Instead, Cooper and Gorfer attempt to portray the memories of each person to communicate the passage of time. The works also highlight the countries’ ongoing transformations in order to reflect on changes that may not be readily visible. More »

Published on september 14, 2010.
Art Artforum.com Exhibition Review
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”Parkliv”

Paola Pivi
Paola Pivi, Untitled (Slope), 2010, image: Marabouparken

The parks that surround some museums isolate art into objects of formal delectation. Objects in a park suggest static repose rather than any ongoing dialectic. Parks are finished landscapes for finished art.
—Robert Smithson, ”Cultural Confinement” (1972)

Sweden, the land of near perfect summers, lush outdoor environments and carefree activities. The tourist bureau is, rare for tourist bureaus, not lying. Marabouparken’s group exhibition “Parkliv” (“Park Life”) took advantage of the generous expanse that surrounds its Stockholm-suburban art space, sharing a diverse collection of works displayed both inside the gallery and spread among their impressive garden. More »

Published on september 13, 2010.
Art ArtSlant Exhibition Review
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Gunilla Klingberg, Parallelareal Curry Lines

Gunilla Klingberg
Gunilla Klingberg, Parallelareal Curry Lines, 2010, image: Galerie Nordenhake

Stockholm-based Swedish artist Gunilla Klingberg presents an installation with five accompanying art objects reminding art lovers why it remains important to personally experience art in real life. The focus of this examination is on Klingberg’s oversized display of red grid lines entitled Parallelareal Curry Lines, 2010 that make their way across Galerie Nordenhake’s floor, creeping up walls and weaving their way through the open space. Many artists possess a longstanding historical and intrinsic interest in the occult, superstition and spirituality; Klingberg’s installation consisting of these fiery markers of vinyl tape persuade the viewer to consider Manfred Curry’s mystical invention of curry lines. Once used to help decipher the world’s electromagnetic energies―both positive and negative―through dowsing, these rods were part of an effort to unleash or locate natural phenomena buried within. More »

Published on september 13, 2010.
Art ArtSlant Polaris Series
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