| Björn Kjelltoft, 2011, image: Gallery Niklas Belenius |
White, billowing curtains display seemingly banal yet biting phrases appropriated from a disheartened couple’s filmic encounter in their hotel room. More »
Björn Kjelltoft, ”I Promise, I Will Never Be Your Friend. No Matter What, Ever…”
Peter Ern, Electric Light
| Peter Ern, Electric Light, 2011, image: Peter Bergman |
Peter Ern’s solo exhibition “A Place Called Home” displays new, large scale paintings predominantly focused on dry or wintry landscapes which many could argue are devoid of a detectable action or livelihood, as well as others drawing attention to the commonplace, external architectures of Sweden―Soviet-style apartment complexes, tucked away stugas/country houses, kojans/huts in the woods or inner, industrial spaces such as in Ern’s Electric Light, 2011. If Ern’s “A Place Called Home” is approached as a series, Electric Light, 2011 doesn’t follow suit as comfortably as the others, bringing the viewer inside an abandoned space in contrast. More »
Dan Holdsworth, ”Blackout”
| Dan Holdsworth, Blackout 09, 2010, image: Dan Holdsworth |
Dan Holdsworth’s twist on landscape photography is introduced to Sweden, a country well-versed in climatic extremes. Nordin, a niche gallery established in 2007, accentuates a cluster of Holdsworth’s prints of enormous proportions, depositing one particular set apart from the others—back-lit in a smaller, adjacent room most likely meant for video installations. Claiming that inspiration for this series came from New York’s power failures of the 1960s, Holdsworth in ”Blackout” reminds the viewer that certain flavors of panic and unrest are cyclical—one keen emotion present yesterday, perhaps back again today. More »
Sofia Hultén, Familiars
| Sofia Hultén, Familiars, 2007, image: Sofia Hultén |
Though not a recent work, Swedish artist Sofia Hultén’s video titled, Familiars, 2007, expresses how easily one’s home can become an off-kilter nightmare, by simply altering the environment in seemingly insignificant and unpredictable ways. More »
Petra Lindholm, Till Anne Marie / For Anne Marie
| Petra Lindholm, Till Anne Marie / For Anne Marie, 2010, image: Galleri Magnus Karlsson |
In Petra Lindholm’s fifth exhibition at Galleri Magnus Karlsson, titled “Till Anne Marie / For Anne Marie,” Lindholm’s new work exists alongside Peter Köhler’s complimentary exhibition “Star City Garden.” This Finnish artist dedicates her show to her blood relative; the content is based upon her great aunt’s personal narrative and history. More »
”Home Sweet Home”
| Mattias Åkesson, Hem Ljuva Hem, 2010, photo: Behzad Khosravi Noori |
Curated by Kim Einarsson, Johan Tirén and Niklas Östholm, Konsthall C’s “Home Sweet Home” brings to light a significant issue that residents of Stockholm and its environs are continually burdened and consumed with: housing. More »
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 »
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 »
”Parkliv”
| 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 »