Sara Jordenö, Persona Project

Sara Jordenö, The Set House (Hedvig),
2010, image: Petrus Sjövik / Sara Jordenö

Recently displayed alongside 53 other artists in Moderna Museet’s recent ”Modernautställningen 2010″—held every four years and constructed with the intention to represent the current Swedish contemporary art scene—Swedish artist Sara Jordenö shared her ongoing work, titled Persona Project/Persona-Projektet, 2000-2010. Born 1974 in Umeå but currently residing in New York City, Jordenö’s background in creative writing influences her creations, which are primarily text publications, image-based film/video/photography and installation. More »

Published on januari 18, 2011.
Art ArtSlant Polaris Series
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Joakim Eneroth, ”Short Stories of the Transparent Mind”

Joakim Eneroth, The Past is Gone, The Future is Cancelled, 2008, image: Joakim Eneroth

I wish I could take these home with me. As contradictory as it may seem, a room filled with a family of such an aesthetic possession might be its own cure. The actual collection of texts and photographs, “Short Stories of the Transparent Mind,” by Stockholm-based artist Joakim Eneroth is larger than what is presented in the gallery, but one is still able to discern that notions of absence and emptiness are seriously and creatively approached. More »

Published on januari 18, 2011.
Art ArtSlant Exhibition Review
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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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