the Exhibition and Life (reconsidered) / day 7

“Läget” (“the Situation”), draft by Karin Lindström Kolterud p.1

“Läget” (“the Situation”), draft by Karin Lindström Kolterud p.2

Day 7: Reset, start anew… I cannot move the large canvases on my own, so they’ll have to stay set for the time being. Everything else goes back into the storage space – only the armchair and the folding chairs remain. They aren’t my artworks; they are my coworkers. The pea-green chairs are a low-budget remake of “the Situation” – a project by Karin Lindström Kolterud, highlighting loneliness. Karin herself shows up, and gives some valuable suggestions on how to choreograph the bulk of chairs in relation to the paintings.
At 3pm, a visitor arrives from Cambridge – via zoom – and takes a tour through the whole set-up in my cellphone.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

the Exhibition and Life (reconsidered) / day 6

art, curating, recent work, time-out

From yesterday’s elderly artlovers – partly somewhat blasé – a sudden turn to younger minds. Distance yields for active involvement; action alternates with reflection. Ebb, and flow… Today, the process seems to have reached a node – not coming to a close, but to a resting point. Tomorrow, the beginning of another week.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

the Exhibition and Life (reconsidered) / day 5

art, curating, recent work, time-out

Saturday is opening day at the other artspaces in the block… and for the first time, there’s the occasional visitor who shows no sign of interest; just another stop on their round, a quick glance with a connoisseur’s glasses on, before heading to the next gallery… But there’s been other kinds of encounters, too – between laughter and (almost) tears. The prolonged view. Paying homage to a worn-out blanket. Aesthetics and/or sincerity? Thank you, Lena, Birgitta, and all of you whose names I don’t know!

the Exhibition and Life (reconsidered) / day 4

art, curating, recent work

In the morning, I had a visiting group of students from the art class that I’ve shared the last weeks with, and their teachers. As I asked them to find an inherent theme when rearranging the material, they responded with an almost wordless collaboration – and a spontaneous installation from fabrics, tape and paper cups. Over the next hours, pairs of visitors kept dropping in… exchanging thoughts about space, body matters and grandkids; about Daniel Buren and giving up control; and the pleasing state of being banal.

the Exhibition and Life (reconsidered) / day 3

art, curating, recent work, time-out

Day 3: soon, playful surprises in unexpected places – left from yesterday – would yield for an extreme makeover. A cohesive team worked hard for two hours, mounting large canvases and little drawings… while fruits & flowers were put on display in the storefront. Thank you Birgitta, Susanne och Christina! And thank you, Karin, for superb documentation (to be seen elsewhere)!

the Exhibition and Life (reconsidered) / day 2

art, curating, recent work, time-out

May 11th: a day of breathing, of extended attention. Nearness; distancing; returning… The beginning of a longer rhythm? A visitor’s intervention intuitively connecting manifestations of motherhood and childhood; frailty, and a hidden treasure. In the evening, a sharing circle opens up to playful, gentle joy. The sky is clearing. A rainbow.

the Exhibition and Life (reconsidered) / day 1

art, curating, recent work

May 10th: from white walls in an empty space… to a meandering dialogue in words and making. Thank you for the installation, Walter! Thank you for creating cosmos from chaos in darkness, Lena! Thank you for your time and courage and collaboration, Mats and Mats! Thank you for the world opening down the rabbithole, Thea! Thank you – each one not mentioned by name – for your perspectives, your interest, your warm professionality! This is what I hoped for, in more than ample measure.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Upcoming: the Exhibition and Life (reconsidered)

art, curating, upcoming

In late autumn 1986, I staged the Exhibition and Life in the gallery space of the Royal Academy of Art in Stockholm. Being a fifth year student at the Royal Institute of Art, I had a studio space in that same building; so, I brought my collected body of work – unsorted – onto the gallery floor. The exhibition took shape continuously until it closed. The title was suggested by my firstborn, then six-and-a-half years old.

Today, over three decades later, it’s time to reconsider.

The Exhibition and Life (reconsidered) reflects the initial process – using paintings, drawings and objects made during the last few decades as material. Again, the exhibition will be in constant change – as life itself. For a deepened experience, visitors and guests are invited to actively take part; by (re)curating and (re)arranging, by interventions and performances of your own, as well as in shared reflections and public talks.

The Exhibition and Life (reconsidered) will open Tuesday May 10th, and close Sunday June 5th. Open every day 12-5pm; Tuesday evenings until 8pm.

Documentation and programme updates will be published here continuously.

the venue: Hälsingegatan 43, Stockholm

Art’s Birthday 2022: Bilder från Nysund / New Sound Images

art, curating, painting, recent work, time-out

The Watertower opening up

“Fold a Hat” spot outside the Watertower

Playing sound bowl and ice

Ice installation by Julia Adzuki and Patrick Dallard

the green octave, paintings by Helena Hildur W.

the green octave, projections by Johannes Ferm Winkler

Art’s Birthday 2022: Bilder från Nysund / New Sound Images in Gnesta’s Old Watertower

Finally, let’s celebrate! The doors of the Watertower are open; inside, guests are welcomed by an installation of light and ice, glass and water. The green octave paintings – modest in size – are on display along one of the walls. Upon the next three sides of the tower, the pictures transfigure into light projections, opening up to an imaginary summer day.

the Green Octave, projections by Johannes Ferm Winkler

For myself, this is a process equally wondrous and interesting; from the beginning, years ago, where I take a walk immersed in the light and sounds of the surroundings; next, converting my impressions to a small-sized painting; leading up to this joint venture, where the landscape re-emerges by technical means… or, sprung from the inner nature of human minds. The space floating with light and sound… the landscape transcended.

On Monday, January 17, the Art’s Birthday network* will support a webradio streaming, where 25+ art spaces around the globe – from Tokyo to Vancouver – will share photo and audio streams in an interactive mesh.

Above: Fold a Hat outside the Watertower, Gnesta 2022; photos by Johanna Dahl and HHW.
Below: Robert Filliou, Rome 1972; photo by Joaquín Romero

* About Art’s Birthday worldwide: the event was first proposed in 1963 by French artist Robert Filliou, as a public holiday to celebrate the presence of art in our lives. In recent years, the idea has been taken up by a loose network of artists and friends around the world, welcoming new partners working with the ideas of exchange and telecommunications-art. Since 1963, Art’s Birthday has generated parties and gatherings, correspondence and mailart, sound and video art, music composed for telephone lines, radio and (starting in the mid 1990’s) for the Internet – and, following Fillou’s example, the folding of paper hats.

Bilder från Nysund / New Sound Images III

art, curating, recent work, time-out, upcoming

Ljudtornet preparing for Art’s Birthday in the Watertower; testing new projectors, piloted by Johannes Ferm Winkler in the most gracious way. A setup is forming…

At the same time, in other places: celebrations of Art and of the waters at Nysund are evolving. Sound art, installations and music by Erik Peters, Karin Lindström Kolterud, Tomas Björkdal, Johanna Dahl, Rolf Schuurmans, Patrick Dallard and Julia Adzuki will all flow together here in the next couple of days. Welcome to the Old Watertower in Gnesta on Sunday! Or listen worldwide via Art’s Birthday network on Monday.

(all photos by HHW.)