When artists seek to take us beyond the norm, we encounter art that engages well beyond the visible and the audible. We become immersed in the works’ scent, thoughts, emotions, memories and esoteric through playful surrealism, creative energy, music’s spirit, the expectant ticking of serene silences…
… and through it all the problems of daily living and existentialist struggles are miniaturised, the human spirit is revitalised, and places with good emotions are clearly crystallised: we continue to distinctly see and hear humanity’s and life’s highly prized intangibles!
Exhibition: There is nothing below
Artist: Johan Nobell
Where: ANNAELLEGALLERY, Karlavägen 15 B
When Till 8 October
Johan Nobell‘s scenic landscapes convey humorously ominous moods of dread and imminent threat. Scale, figuration and abstraction collide, producing bizarre surrealist imagery that is simultaneously playful and portentous in a pastel palette. With absurdity ever-present, the compositions are thoroughly detailed, contoured and consistent in narrative, wryly alluding to problems that arise in our everyday lives and existential struggle.
The exhibited works illustrate scenes and environments reaching caustic and abysmal ends, rendered with tongue-in-cheek cynicism. Strange formations populate the canvases as monsters grow, evolve and transform to conquer surrounding landscapes. The order of nature is broken and new behaviors evolve out of necessity. Here the most beautiful plants, living in void landscapes lacking nutritive minerals, transform into carnivorous insects on the prowl for sustenance. The resulting dystopia inspires both a sense of pathos and renewed hope, challenging us to consider themes of mortality, resilience and reinvention.
Exhibition & Artist: TONE BEHNCKE
Where: Galleri Bergman, Sturegatan 48
When: Till 30 September
Tony Behncke’s abstract art tries to catch the impulsive movements – like the energy that exists in life – to create vitality and energy, either powerful or weak, with different kinds of materials; drawing inspiration from nature’s vitality and music’s spirit to let his own energy and senses be his works’ main structures.
Exhibition: YAMU
Artist: Peter Frie
Where: Bohman-Knäpper, Sturegatan 36
When: Till 8 October
Peter Frie’s paintings are rooted in the long tradition of landscape painting; especially in the way places are depicted as a powerfully charged mood, with the paintings manifesting both a powerful sense of place and a metaphorical dimension to blur any overly explicit link with it.
So Frie does not reproduce views but paints memories. He frequently arranges his painted theme to make it part of a white painted ground, leaving this empty space to act as a balancing factor that emphasizes the landscape theme. The large white areas flanking the depicted image permit a sense of expansion, like a screen behind which a continuation of the landscape will be revealed.
The landscapes are compilations of different time periods and environments, and often refer to the fertile countryside. People and buildings are left off-scene. Although references to the 1800s’ tradition of landscape painting can be discerned, the paintings are something else. The white border echoes the limits of experience, the distance between us and the image, while the landscape and its melancholic occasionally optimistic light signify an emotional state more than representative of the actual landscape itself.
Exhibition: Kännbart
Artists: Julia Adzuki with Sindri Runudde & Teresia Lindblad, Nadja Ekman with Walter & Maj-Sofi Enkvist, Lisa Jeannin & Rolf Schuurmans, Matti Kallioinen, Mari Kretz, & Maria Luostarinen
Where: Scenkonstmuseet*, Sibyllegatan 2
When: Till 13 October
* Swedish Museum of Performing Arts
Kännbart is a tactile exhibition that allows you to experience art in a new way – without sight and hearing and yet still reaching our inner selves; even though vision represents 80% of our senses while hearing takes up 10 to 15%.
The six new unique works focus on the scent of art, the thought of art, the air of art and a new awareness of art; making this show a project of accessibility and democracy, questioning what it is to be human.
Exhibition: Neuro Tribes
Artists: Zoe Barcza, Robin Fry & Olga Pedan
Where: LOYAL, Kammakargatan 68
When: Till 13 October
Stockholm-based Canadian Zoe Barcza, fellow Canadian Robin Fry and Berlin-based Swede Olga Pedan draw artistic inspiration from NeuroTribes, an independent blog on the PLOS Blogs Network by science journalist Steve Silberman (http://blogs.plos.org/neurotribes/about/).
Exhibition: Nothing was more like himself
Artist: Tommy Strömberg
Where: Domeij Gallery, Bragevägen 21
When: Till 14 October
Disaster, serenity and time are the three words haunting Anneli Nise as she contemplates Tommy Strömberg‘s colourful, meticulous and well-balanced oils on canvas; making her ponder, “Where are the people? Is it a serenity that appears after a disaster? When there is nothing left to do? Is this the second before the disaster?”
Exhibition: Affordable Art Fair
Where: Nacka Strandsmässan, 131 52 Nacka
When: 12 to 15 October
Affordable Art Fair Stockholm returns with over 50 local and international galleries, exhibiting works by established artists and rising stars!
At Stockholm’s upcoming 6th edition of this fair is the return of a regular favourite – the Recent Graduates exhibition celebrating its 5th anniversary! With the most talented all carefully selected by curators Pia Rystadius, an artist and prior CEO of Grafikens Hus in Mariefred, and Malin Sköld, a Production Designer on film and photographic shoots whilst creating her own art projects, with skills developed at Konstfack.
Exhibition & Artist: MIKAEL JACOBSSON
Where: Galleri Hera, Hornsgatan 36
When: 23 September to 8 October
With everyday moments and a silent view in mood-like images his signum, Mikael Jacobsson’s oeuvre of photos combine and make the most of his skill as artist and graphic designer; as do the new oil paintings and drawings he exhibits at Galleri Hera.
Exhibition & Artist: Mari Rantanen
Where: SKF / Konstnärshuset, Smålandsgatan 7
When: 28 September to 22 October
One of Finland’s most celebrated colourists, Mari Rantanen is undoubtedly still remembered for her highly acclaimed 2005 solo show at Millesgården Art Museum that subsequently toured throughout Sweden and Finland.
Her work is characterised by powerful force fields – often in the form of complex patterns that refer to man-made systems – and are brought about through meticulous preparation and concentration; all to render life visible, along with creating good places for emotions.
The exhibition at Konstnärshuset is her first solo presentation in Stockholm in ten years; with a selection of paintings from 2015 to 2017 as well as a collection of monotypes from 2017 – all highlighting her interest in the interplay of colour and form, in the expressive power of light and the spiritual possibilities offered by painting.
Exhibition: In October Ecstasy
Artist: Secundino Hernández
Where: Galerie Forsblom, Karlavägen 9
When: 29 September to 5 November
Spaniard Secundino Hernández is known for his expressive paintings, deriving from the premise of figurative expression and containing references to Francis Picabia and Joan Miró, amongst other surrealists. Yet history in his latest body of work appears fragmented, its components concealed or scattered.
With splinters of colour, layers of primer folding on the canvas, and the fabric laid bare, Hernández explores the destruction of painting while grounding the visual power of this medium firmly in the present while continuing to radiate his fascination with the creative process.
Photo and information credits: The respective galleries and Affordable Art Fair
