Belenius

Join us for a conversation between artists Revital Cohen & Tuur Van Balen with Rebecca Lewin, Curator of Exhibitions & Design at Serpentine, and a special late viewing of Heavens, a new work by the artists.

The Swiss Church, 79 Endell Street, WC2H 9DY (map)
Opening hours: 12-17 October, 12-7pm
Late night opening and in-conversation: 16 October, 12pm-12am (click here for more information)

Revital Cohen and Tuur Van Balen (both b.1981) explore processes of production as cultural, personal and political practices. Their work forms bridges between labour and choreography, gambling and emotional manipulation, systems of capital and animal bodies.

This moving image installation starts from the theory that the octopus evolved from a virus originating in outer space, expanding our perception of ecology as a network of interplanetary relationships. Emerging from conversations with a philosopher, a writer, a psychiatrist, an astrobiologist, an astronomer and an escape artist, Heavens comprises a constellation of text, sounds and images. The piece looks to the physiology and behaviours of the octopus to reflect on human and non-human attempts to escape through acts of communal ritual, or through leaks and spillovers.

Heavens is accompanied by a multi-channel soundscape by Pan Daijing. It is co-commissioned by Serpentine and Malevich.io as part of Back to Earth, Serpentine’s long-term multidisciplinary project dedicated to the environment and the climate crisis.

In Julius Göthlin’s third solo exhibition at Belenius, there is a conscious nod to the works from the two previous exhibitions, that converts to an expansion where gravity pulls the total towards the middle and makes everything meet, thus becoming one. The repetitive and confined are mixed with an organic, intuitive and material-driven approach. Optical illusions and mobility merge with Göthlin’s critique of the present, a way of dealing with our obsession with social media and its algorithms.

The title of the exhibition is a concept taken from the science fiction universe, a theoretical force field somewhere in cosmos where time stands still, and everything in its parameters ceases to age. As reality around us has been digitized at a rapid pace and the eternal has become temporal, the artist wants to stop and reflect within this force field. Had it been possible to freeze time, the works had been inside this very Stasis Field. It is a protest against the linear, an imaginary possibility for something that transcends the normalized.

During the creative process, Göthlin emancipates himself from his own involvement with the works utilizing external elements – sand, water and wind, which are free to play over the acrylic on the canvas. In this way, the cosmic expression take shape, as an autonomous event. The paintings are thus at the time of their creation in a Stasis Field. Since childhood, Göthlin has been interested in movement, in the two-dimensional, repetitions that eventually tear themselves free and call for transformation. The paintings were born out of an idea of ​​other dimensions, within the layers upon layers that were painted. The sculptures capture these parallel realities and reflect them, but also the opposite. The stripes are part of the bigger picture. Mathematically and dreamlike, they fight anxious conformism and supple consensus. Göthlin says that the works are an interpretation of each other, without de facto being anything at all.

Violet is one of the seven traditional spectral colors having the shortest wavelength. For us to be able to see color, a mixture of many different wavelengths is required. Ultraviolet with shorter wavelength cannot be perceived by the human eye. Göthlin’s wish is that it should not be possible to decode the works directly. Perhaps a painting or sculpture done in ultraviolet colors would have automatically ended up in a Stasis Field, an abstraction beyond our comprehension, had it been possible. It is the artist that set the parameters concerning the works and their creation process, but it is also Göthlin who determines their algorithm. Within their limits there is freedom, but he is the one who created the conditions. This becomes a metaphor for a larger context – who really determines the human condition, who makes our algorithms within which we all operate? Göthlin wants to take control of the uncontrollable. Painting can be fantastic and beautiful according to the artist, but when you see the brushstrokes, it is difficult to get around the idea that it is a human being who is behind it. It is an image passing via a human being, not material that communicates autonomously. Therefore, the traces of Göthlin as a sender are circumvented by the fact that he never touches the canvas when the paint is applied with an airbrush. In Stasis Field we get to see Julius Göthlin’s personal interpretation of a reality disconnected from algorithms and the infinite loop where the works stand on their own in relation to the digital flow.

/Valter Sydén

Julius Göthlin (b.1984) lives and works in Stockholm, Sweden. In 2012, he earned his MFA in Fine Arts from the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm.

Julius Göthlin´s work is rendered in softly airbrushed tones reflecting both minimal, as well as abstract approaches. His work delivers both a visual gravity and an equally gradual presentation of forms, which slowly progresses while exploring the artist’s abstract work. The artist underlines the power of “moving” in his compositions questioning notions of time and space while composing work of confident and mesmerizing beauty, while also emphasizing the intellectual and non-material quests that characterize our contemporary age.

His work has been presented nationally in Sweden and internationally in countries such as Italy, India and Denmark.

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Eva lange
Ulla Wiggen
Miriam Bäckström
Revital Cohen & Tuur van Balen
Julius Göthlin

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Swedish text below

This exhibition present works from the 1960s by Jan Manker (b. 1941 in Stockholm). Like a journey in the visual world of Manker our paths are crossed when we see his works and they are intertwined with his pictorial and native language. Experimenting with various materials and forms of expression, his works stand for themselves in relation to romantic and picturesque tradition. During the sixties’ political upheaval, much was at stake; liberation, democracy and war. Manker began to examine, in his own words “the difficulties of man to understand her own situation and ability to review”. He experienced, as many others, that the societal structure prevented real change and possibility to influence rulers and institutions.

The digital revolution and communication had yet to peak and reach its breakthrough, thus rendering the possibility to convey political messages via artistic storytelling were still quite analogue as opposed to the digital flows of today.

In 1962 Manker wrote a letter asking if he could visit Öyvind Fahlström in New York. Fahlström said yes, and Manker was well received, and they became friends. Fahlström resided in Robert Rauschenberg’s studio and the experience of being there was an inspiration to Manker. The early pop art and works laden with material effects left a creative mark with Manker. He strung nylon stockings and threads over his pictures, patterns and details such as razorblades were added to his assemblages. Lacklustre varnish became something abstract and intuitive. The nerve can be found in what is random, says Manker who early accepted this as a quality. No good to stiffen in one’s approach or archaic hierarchies, better to welcome the unexpected and random. The Spanish artist Antoni Tàpies with his rough surface structure and materials also became a source of inspiration for Manker. When Fahlström moved back to Sweden from New York Manker assisted him with his Happenings at Moderna Museet Stockholm, for example he painted a four meters tall doll of actor Ingrid Thulin.

Manker made a political collage called Förvirrade nationerna in ’67 exploring frontier delimitation of states and the importance of flags with both humour and gravity. Newspaper clippings with patterns intended for sewing and needlework at home become a vast net of communication marked with numbers. On both sides of the clippings there are burnt flags also marked with numbers. Shapes dancing in the background accompanying the work. During this era, it was obviously a criminal act to burn flags, and we know legislative protests against that law in the classical work Skända flaggan by Carl Johan De Geer.

During the second half of the sixties Manker continues to examine the relationship between man and machine. How do they mix, go together, is it even possible? He experimented with pigment, colour, varnish, ink, oil, acrylic mixing these techniques. The works imagery shines a light on the computerization of reality – he paints scanners that read off reality in the picture and turns into code. These scanners remake, print and interpret the world, without it we cannot understand the code. Manker added another dimension in these works when he added newspaper clippings to the paint and poured mineral turpentine over them. The colour stuck but the paper could be removed. The “pattern-paintings” of the exhibition are also examinations of reality vis-à-vis computerization. Here we are presented with the digital code of existence and they appear as randomized matrix-code, painted in oil.

In his exhibition Experiments from the 60’s Jan Manker present a generous dose of art history, and we get to experience assemblage, collage and the strive to understand the relationship between man and technique, transecting the Swedish political art scene and its aesthetic during the sixties.

Text by: Valter Sydén

Jan Manker was born in Stockholm in 1941 and educated at the Royal Academy of Art 1964 to 1969. His debut exhibition was at Gallery Observatorium in Stockholm in 1964. In 2005 he showed a retrospective exhibition at the Royal Academy of the Arts in Stockholm. He was one of the founders of Grafikens hus and from 1995 – 1999 he was curator for SAK (Sveriges Allmänna Konstförening).

Jan Manker is represented in the collections of Moderna Museet in Stockholm and at Norrköpings konstmuseum, Göteborgs konstmuseum and Centre de la gravure in La Louviere, Belgium.

I denna utställning på Belenius presenteras verk av Jan Manker (f.1941) i Stockholm tillkomna under 1960-talet. Vi får följa med på en resa i Mankers visibla värld, där vårt seende av konsten sammanförs med hans visuella modersmål i verken. Genom experiment med olika material och uttrycksformer står verken på egna ben i förhållande till romantiska måleriska uttryck. Under sextiotalets politiska omvälvningar stod så mycket på spel genom frigörelse, demokrati och krig. Manker undersökte därför med hans egna ord ”människans svårigheter med att förstå sin egen situation och förmåga till överblick”. Han liksom andra upplevde att samhällets ordning hindrade möjligheten att påverka makthavare och institutioner. Den digitala revolutionen och kommunikationen låg ännu i sin linda och möjligheten att sprida politiska budskap och konstnärligt berättande var därför analoga och tillhörde bildflödet snarare än de digitala flödena av idag.

Manker skrev 1962 ett brev till Öyvind Fahlström där han frågade om han fick komma till New York och hälsa på. Det fick han. Där blev han väl mottagen och de båda lärde känna varandra. Fahlström bodde i Robert Rauschenbergs ateljé som förstås blev en stor inspiration för Manker. Den tidiga popkonsten och verken tyngda av materialeffekter blev under några år Mankers signum. Assemblage med trasiga nylonstrumpor som spändes över bilderna, trådar och mönster samt detaljer som ett rakblad. Den matta fernissan och akrylfernissan blev till något abstrakt och intuitivt. Nerven finns i det slumpmässiga som Manker tidigt säger sig ha accepterat. Man ska inte låsa sig i tillvägagångssätt eller hierarkier utan välkomna det slumpartade. Den spanska konstnären Antoni Tàpies med dennes grova ytstrukturer och material blev också en inspirationskälla för Manker. Han fick när Fahlström flyttat hem från New York till Sverige hjälpa till vid dennes Happenings på Moderna Museet, bland annat målade Manker en fyra meter hög docka föreställande Ingrid Thulin.

Mankers politiska collage Förvirrade nationerna behandlar med både humor och allvar nationalstaternas gränsdragning och flaggornas egentliga betydelse. Tidningsurklipp med mönster ämnade för sömnad hemmavid blir till ett stort numrerat kommunikationsnät. Runtom utklippet ser vi brända små flaggor också de med tillhörande numrering. Dansande gestalter ackompanjerar verket i bakgrunden. Under denna period var det brottsligt att bränna flaggor, protestaktioner mot detta känner vi igen i Carl Johan De Geers klassiska verk betitlat Skända flaggan.

Under 1960-talets andra hälft dyker Manker ner i undersökandet av relationen mellan människa och teknik. Hur fungerar de ihop? Han experimenterar med färg, lack, tusch, olja och akryl och blandar olika tekniker. Verkens bildspråk behandlar datoriseringen av verkligheten – han målar registratorer som avläser verkligheten som i målningen gör om den till kod. En skrivare som gör om, skriver ut och tolkar världen, utan den har vi svårt att tolka och överbrygga koden. Manker adderade ytterligare en dimension i dessa målningar när han inpräntade tidningsurklipp över en matt grundfärg som var löslig i lacknafta. Färgen från tidningen fastnade och han kunde dra bort pappret. De andra mönstermålningarna är också de undersökningar av verkligheten jämte datoriseringen. Koderna är avlästa ur verkligheten och framträder som digitala matrix-bilder, dock helt utförda i olja.

I Jan Mankers utställning Experiments from the 60’s presenteras en generös dos konsthistoria med nedslag i tekniker som assemblage, collage och undersökandet av relationen mellan människa och teknik, i vilken det ges ett tydligt tvärsnitt av den politiska svenska konsten och dess estetik under sextiotalet.

/Valter Sydén

Jan Manker är född i Stockholm 1941 och utbildad vid Konsthögskolan på Konstakademien 1964-69. Han debuterade 1964 på Galleri Observatorium i Stockholm och hade en retrospektiv utställning på Konstakademien 2005. Han har haft cirka 60 separatutställningar runt om i Sverige samt deltagit i en rad samlingsutställningar i utlandet och Sverige. Jan Manker var med och projekterade Grafikens Hus som invigdes 1996 och har deltagit i dess drift fram till 2007. Åren 1995-1999 var Jan Manker intendent för Sveriges Allmänna Konstförening.

Jan Manker är representerad på Moderna Museet i Stockholm samt på muséerna i Norrköping, Göteborg, Gävle, Borås, Malmö, Örebro, Hälsingborg, Västerås och Centre de la gravure i La Louviere, Belgien.

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Curator: Sophie Påhlson-Möller

By appointment only

In the building and construction industry there is a multitude of materials that exist for clear purposes. However, these materials are later hidden, painted and even left forgotten. No one wants to see these fragments that make up the bigger and broader spectre. We only want the whole picture, that perfect and ready structure. Anti-refinement are keywords for Willem Andersson. His sculptural work are the very anti-thesis of the perfected lines and forms. Using sealant, he produces sculptures that live their own life. The sealant cannot be controlled, it enlarges itself at free will. The artistic procedure starts after its appliance. Using colour, fire, force and a lot of will the process continues ad infinitum. The sculptures take form. He furthers his examination of entropy. The term entropy is derived from ancient Greek consisting of two words, “en- “, which is an abbreviation of the word energy, and “trope”, which translates as transformation. Ergo, transformation of Energy. Order and fixed energy rules materials at first. Andersson disturbs this order creating his sculptures. Taking control of uncontrollable materials his works take form. Bringing into the light what was initially supposed to be hidden, Andersson sculpts. He describes himself more as a handyman, a craftsman than an artist. Things that constitute a purpose and also and foremost is what it is, turn into works of art in his care. The perfect balance between order and chaos in his sealant bridges this chasm as he carefully sculptures and changes the entropy of the materials. Renewed energy is pumped into the simple materials, thus bringing forth new life in the sculptures.

Some of his sculptures in this exhibition are completely made out of clay. Andersson calls it waste-material, junk or litter. This particular clay is often used at kindergartens by children. The artist here strives to enrichen and uplift the materials often discarded in fancy venues.  Much like sealant, clay is masked painted and often overlooked. Hence, Andersson bring these forgotten materials back to life, and also back into the light. Refreshingly, we need to see today what we have around us, just round the corner. Sculptural clearness like this reminds us of just that – the beauty of mundane things and materials. The very title of the exhibition is also a witnessing of this. The brass tacks that hold everything together around us, yet without us giving them praise or thanks.

Valter Sydén

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Belenius proudly presents the gallery’s first solo exhibition by Julia Bondesson.

In the first solo exhibition by Julia Bondesson at Belenius gallery the artist will show new works made in the last year, both figurative sculptures and reliefs. An installation which shares the title of the exhibition, is a largescale marionette puppet hanging from a scaffold. Bondesson recounts that her inspiration comes from choreography and the bodily ability to be part of a narrative, to convey something greater and beyond. The motions are occasionally paused as in an everlasting moment – yet without being frozen solid. The human body possess an inherent testimony – it may have scars, wounds, well-trained or not. Whatever we do or however we live our body is the only vessel we have on earth. The works are made out a hardwood, the small-leaved linden in the workshop the artist share with a carpenter. There she meticulously sculpts the choreography. Bondesson scorches the wood, colorize it and draws with neon.

In theatre, dance and the opera scene the human fate and our actions are portrayed with the body as a steppingstone, in the same way as the sculptures of Bondesson. During the pandemic we have been robbed of the opportunity to gather and enjoy these motions. The sculptures function as a cure, a medicine as they create scenes in the physical world. The works speaks for themselves, their meaning revealed in the visual experience.

“Science, Order, and Creativity” is a legendary book by the physicists Bohm & Peat (1987). In it they seek to dissolve the petrification within technology and science, that in some cases do more harm than good, and they describe the need of a new creativity as the remedy. The human creativity relieves us all from the crisis. Bondesson refers to this book as she strives to return to motion as a counterweight to the petrified. Wholeness is emphasized rather than fragments, it is time for a new paradigm with a profound meaning in contrast to completely surrendering to technology. Bondesson have studied at a puppet theatre in Taiwan. You can sense this in the sculptures, as the tone unfold a sanctity which celebrate the body as an essential instrument for harmony, rather than being secondary to intellect.

In 2021 it has been sixty years since the famed “Art in Motion” opened at the Modern Museum in Stockholm. Among the multitude of artist-heavyweight champions in the exhibition, Nikki de Saint Phalle has to be mentioned here in connection to Bondesson. In the new corporeality liberated from ancient expression, one can surmise a lineage over these sixty years. The sculptures by Julia Bondesson aren’t exclusively feminine, yet the motion seem to continue. Not least in her upcoming solo exhibition at the Modern Art Museum in Malmö this fall.

/Valter Sydén

Julia Bondesson was born 1983 in Kinnared, Sweden. She is an artist focusing on sculpture and performance, and she lives and works in Killeberg in the south of Sweden. She studied at the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm 2006-2011, with two exchange years in Asia. The first at the Chiang Mai University Faculty of Fine Arts in Thailand and later in 2009 at the University of Tsukuba in Japan.

Selected solo exhibitions:
2021 Moderna Museet, Malmö (upcoming)
2019 Ghost Dance, Eskiltuna konstmuseum, Estilstuna
2018 Ny förbindelse, Hertha Hillfon c/o Skeppsholmen, Stockholm
2017 Vertical Phantom, Vandalorum, Värnamo
2016 At Night, Halmstad Konsthall, Halmstad
2015 Beckers Art Award: Training Camp for the Animal Spirit, Färgfabriken, Stockholm
​​​​​​​2010 Acts of Mindless, Royal Institute of Art, Stockholm

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(English below)

Eva Lange föddes 1935 i Stockholm och är verksam där. Ledamot av Kungliga konstakademien. En puristisk skulptör och minimalismens mästare. Studerade vid Konstfacksskolan 1953–59, Konsthögskolan 1959–64. Representerad vid Moderna Museet, Nationalmuseum, Museum for Foreign Art Riga Lettland, Göteborgs konstmuseum, Stockholms, Göteborgs, Solna och Lidingö stads samlingar.

Eva Lange kan benämnas med hederstiteln en av Sveriges främsta skulptörer. En sann mästare vars konstnärskap präglat, lärt, utforskat och tidlöst sammanfattat essensen av svensk postmodernism. Adjektiv i sammanhanget går ej att undfly när man som lyckosam betraktare delges hennes universum. Det skulpturala formspråk Lange i livslångt undersökande presenterar och demonstrerar minner om en puristisk era, en andedräkt av enkelhet i dialog med djup visdom. Oavsett material möter Lange dito med skolad hand, med den djupaste respekt, insikt och ett bugande inför traditionen. Själv har jag fått äran att se hur arbetet men också vardagen i ateljén fortskridit, både innan och under en global pandemi. Med given försiktighet har alstren fortsatt fördjupats, men också invigts i de nya utmaningar och uttryck tiden bjuder. Hur handen med sandpappret som stilla går över både marmor och alabaster fulländar den enkla formen, idealet från fordom utan att alls förenkla dess totala tyngd. Timmar, minuter och klockslagen går; de expanderar i detta formens tillblivelse. Vi måste tala om tid och givetvis rymd. Skulpturerna får ta tid.

I Langes repertoar återfinns monumentala skulpturer ofta projekterade utomhus. Anish Kapoor är värd att nämna i sammanhanget vilken Lange delar ett tydligt konstnärligt släktskap med. Naturen, skogen och konstnären James Turell är också en tydlig åskådliggörande bild.

Teckningarna giva också dem utställningen dess röda linje i sin fulländade enkelhet. Minimalistiskt vittnar de om det sena 1900-talets öppna stränghet, men också en annan känsla, när andra strömningar fyllde verk med symbolism, inte minst politiskt. Lange med hennes närmast hänsynslösa fokus på det större, det sublima och de andliga formerna i kolteckningarna framstår som kolonner, ja närmast tidlösa andetag som enkom bjuda in till en innerlig tolkning och förståelse. Med ett formspråk som förnimmer om antiken och dess strömmar lyckas Lange kombinera den stig vi alla beträder och går, med en riktning mot eviga värden och blickar både mot kosmos och oss själva. Med svärta och dunkelhet formas kanhända hennes motiv utifrån ett andligt sökande i teckningarna. Oavsett medium och uttryck återfinns den eftertänksamma mästarens hand i arbetet som förevisas. Former, det avskalade frambringar en känsla av lugn i de skuggspelens tider vi nu leva i. Detta är just den mångbottnade ambivalensen man omfamnas av i mötet med verken. Konsekvensen av allt blir ett nyfött paradigm som oförutsett ger betraktaren nyckeln till att inom sig själv finna släktskap med verken man möter.

Valter Sydén

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Eva Lange was born in 1935 in Stockholm and is still active there. Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts. A puristic sculptor and master of minimalism. Studied at Konstfacksskolan 1953–59, Konsthögskolan 1959–64. Represented at Moderna Museet, Nationalmuseum, Museum for Foreign Art Riga Lettland, Göteborgs konstmuseum, Stockholms, Göteborgs, Solna and Lidingö stads collections.

Eva Lange have indisputably earned the honorary position to be named one of Sweden’s greatest sculptors. A true master whose artistry both embossed, taught, explored and timelessly summarized the essence of postmodern Swedish art. There are no escaping various adjectives when you as a fortunate viewer submerge into her universe. The sculptural design language in her lifelong investigation both present and demonstrate memories of a puristic era, a slice of simplicity in dialogue with deep wisdom. It does not matter which material Lange engages in and meet with her trained hands, utilizing the deepest respect and insight with a deep bow before tradition. I’ve been given the seldom honour of seeing how her work continues in her studio both beforehand and during a global pandemic. With given precautions her works have continually deepened, also being inaugurated in the new challenges and expressions the zeitgeist bids. Her hands and her sandpaper gradually moving over marble and alabaster perfecting the simple form, the ancient ideal, alas not simplifying its total encumbrance. Hours, minutes and time pass during this endeavour; they expand in this creation of form. We need to talk about time and space evidently. The sculptures are allowed to essentially take time – they must.

In the repertoire of Lange, you will find monumental sculptures often made for the great outdoors. Anish Kapoor is also worth mentioning, whom Lange shares an artistic connection with. Nature, the forests and the artist James Turell are also vivid metaphors.

Her drawings match the quintessential ideal of her body of works perfected simplicity. With minimalistic manifestation they tell a tale of the last century and its open severity, but also another side when currents filled works with symbolism, not least politically. Almost ruthless Lange and her focus of the sublime and spiritual forms in her drawings perform and visualize columns, indeed timeless breaths that invite to a devout interpretation and understanding. Her design language reminiscence of the Hellenistic historic streams Lange succeed in combining the path we all walk upon, gazing towards eternal values both in the great cosmos as well as in ourselves. She forms motifs with dark intensity in this spiritual journey and investigation.

No matter the expression or media at hand the prudent master and her skill are shown in the works presented. The stripped forms bring forth a calm in these times of shadow play we now live in. This is the ambivalence of the multifaceted meetings you face with her works. The consequence of it all is a new-born paradigm that unforeseen give the viewer a key to within oneself find kinship with the works at hand.

Valter Sydén

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Work in Progress
A collaboration with creative consultancy ACNE
18.3.2021 from 14:00
Norrmalmstorg 1
18.3-18.4.2021

Opening the 18.3 at 14:00 Belenius in collaboration with creative consultancy ACNE proudly presents an extraordinary art experience at Norrmalmstorg 1. Windows can work both as a protective barrier but also an opening or peephole. Though the glass Fatima Moallim and Leif Elggren will execute a visual performance with movement and drawings. Their mutual themes will be office spaces, openness and landscape. During the evenings between Timothy Wilson will show light-art on the theme of artificial intelligence. The regular-ness of contemporary life in our office spaces, and the relation between the artificial and organic is examined in this project.

The exhibition is a part of the initiative RESTART – Art for Industry by the creative consultancy ACNE, beginning in Stockholm and subsequently rolling out to all cities where ACNE has offices around Europe during the spring. Showcasing the power of art. For industry and beyond.

Campaign website:
www.restartbyacne.com

Fatima Moallim was born in 1992 in Moscow. Self-taught and with an impressive list of merits she has taken an already self-evident place in Swedish art life.

The foundation of her performance-acts lies in drawing where Moallim express the energy directly via her senses to the canvas or paper through the tip of the pen. With her back against the viewer the lets them see her work take form during the process. It often happens in perfect silence, much like a wordless prayer. With humour, introspection and responsiveness the work gets embodied during her performance.

Moallim has exhibited site-specific works at Moderna Museet Stockholm, Göteborgs konsthall, Marabouparken, Zinkensdamm metro station in Stockholm and on the glass facade of Bonniers konsthall.

Leif Elggren born 1950 in Linköping is an internationally established artist based in Stockholm. Active as a conceptual artist since the end of the -70s he works multidisciplinary with sound-, text-, performance-, installation-, and visual arts. Themes such as power relations, spirituality, the absurdity of life and strong symbols are recurring. White on black but also yellow showcase the biggest contrasts. During 2011 when Elggren lived in New York the artist was out on a walk on Hudson Street when he stopped by a traffic light. Two ladies stood in front of him carrying typical fashion bags with thick glossy paper and a big logo. He overheard one of them saying to the other – “Oh, I have such a passion for fashion”.

With this in the back of his head Elggren began to draw, also starting a tiny blog. He named the project “Drawings for fashion”. The artist introduced red paint in his drawings, which have become significant for this particular series. “I return to the occurrence on Hudson Street with black and red pens, figures and figurative matter”, says Elggren. The motifs later developed into round shapes and forms – a doughnut, a swimming-ring or why not a virus. The circles radiate beams and threads. Elggren is represented in the collections of Moderna Museet Stockholm, Göteborgs konstmuseum, Kalmar Konstmusem, Norrköpings konstmuseum and Nationalmuseum.

Timothy Wilson born 1988 in Stockholm is an installation artist who uses laser and other modern media as he shapes futuristic landscapes. Using slides and light he examines the spiritual condition of the artificial, whether artificial intelligence have a soul like presence during this early stage of its development. “Each soul has its own path; each soul is killed by its mother. Will anyone survive?”, are questions Wilson have asked for this project. The eternal question of the soul is actualized with robots and man-made things. Wilson have exhibited at Uppsala light festival, various group- and solo exhibitions at Belenius and made everything from the lighting for Silvana Imam and Jacob Mühlrad, to the lighting for sets at the Royal Dramatic Theatre.

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(English below)

Emma Bjurström undersöker i denna utställning den svenska myllan och platsbundna företeelser. Detaljstudier och förstoringar av föremål från en svunnen tid. Det binära som infinner sig i motståndet, men också utvecklingen och expansionen mellan olika tidevarv. Föremål kan ges ny innebörd på nya platser. Genom besök på Nordiska museet i Stockholm och Österlens museum har Bjurström dykt ner i det traditionella bylivet runt om i Sverige under 1800-talet. Folkkonsten är ett återkommande tema i målningarna och skulpturerna. I uttrycket från förr visades mytiska bilder och berättelser, som fick sin förklaring i de kulturella omständigheterna där de uppkommit. Bjurström utför en blinkning mot dåtiden för att överbrygga avståndet till nutiden.

Med släkt i Småland har Bjurströms barndom präglats av berättelser och fotografier om den stora utvandringen till Amerika. I måleriet har hon sökt frambringa en känsla av att lämna snarare än något att hålla fast vid. Packningen emigranterna tog med sig till det nya landet innehöll minnen och material från det kända och gamla. Linnetyger och minnessaker fick nytt liv på en ny plats. Också detta fungerar som ett återkopplande till den svenska myllan.

”I linneskåpet ligger hela livet och trängs. Mellan lakanen har barn avlats, sjukdomar överlevts och gårdens gamla dött.”

Den internationella utblicken och urbaniseringen gjorde efter industrialiseringen att det lokala hantverket som utvecklats under generation efter generation föll i glömska. Hållbarhet och traditioner tappade i betydelse när istället masstillverkning blev förhärskande.

Lin och produktionen av detta var en stor del av livet förr, då det användes till kläder och trasor. Det slogs dock ut av den importerade bomullen, men återkommer allt mer då framställningen av det är mer energieffektivt.

Friargåvor gav män till kvinnorna för att tjusa dem innan ett potentiellt bröllop. Bandskedar var en av de vanligaste, som användes när man vävde smala band och bälten för linnetyg. De har nu lyfts in i denna tid och gestaltas skulpturalt tillsammans med delar från en gammal dörr.

De nya verken andas djupt av hembygd och allmoge. En suck är i en mening en konsekvens av ett syresättande. Det ligger i tiden att blicka tillbaka mot det lokala, inte minst under pandemin. Vi blir alla tidsresenärer, men inte av nostalgiska anledningar utan av framåtanda.

Valter Sydén februari 2021

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With this exhibition Emma Bjurström strive to investigate Swedish soil and site-bound phenomena. Detailed studies, enlarging objects from the past. A binary presence in the antagonism, also highlighting the developing expansion between different eras. Objects are able to gain renewed meaning in a new milieu. Visiting ´Nordiska museet´ in Stockholm (Sweden’s largest museum of cultural history) and ´Österlens museum´ Bjurström dived deep into the traditional village life of Sweden during the 19^th century. In that expression of old, mythical stories and pictures emerged that could be explained understanding the cultural circumstance from whence they arose. Bjurström perform a wink toward past tense, bridging the distance to present day.

Growing up Bjurström were told numerous stories, and also shown photographs of her family and their emigration to America. Her paintings convey a feeling of leaving, more than something to hold on to. Both emigrants and luggage contained memories and material from what was known and old, perhaps dated. Linen cloth and memory tokens received new life at a new place. This function as yet another wink toward the Swedish soil and spirit.

” A cramped linen cupboard contains a whole life. Between those sheets’ children have been conceived, sickness has been endured, and elderly died”

The international outlook and urbanization that occurred during and after the industrialization, sadly made us forget local craftmanship that we developed and perfected generation after generation. Sustainability and traditions diminished when mass production became the predominant manner of industry.

Linen and its manufacturing consisted a large part of life for the 19^th century man, it being used for clothes and rags. However imported cotton displaced linen but is coming back more and more as it is energy efficient in comparison.

Before a potential wedding could take place, men were imposed to give women a gift to earn their liking. One of the most common gifts was a rigid heddle, which was used when weaving strings and belts for linen cloth. These have been transferred into this era and are portrayed sculpturally along with parts from an old door.

The new works in this exhibition have a certain scent or feeling to them – that of home and Swedish cultural heritage. A sigh is a consequence of vital oxygenating. It is quite contemporary to gaze at which is local, or home especially during this Covid-19 pandemic. We have all become time travellers, not for nostalgic reasons but rather a push of go-ahead spirit.

Valter Sydén February 2021

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Notera att utställningen under rådande omständigheter inte inleds med en vernissage och att alla besök ska tidsbokas på https://belenius.com/information/

Note that due to the pandemic, there is no opening reception and all visits must be pre-booked at https://belenius.com/information/

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Belenius presenterar en utställning med nya verk av Sophie Tottie, konstnärens andra separatutställning på galleriet.

A Raft of Time

Plötsligt, oplanerat, står jag där vid glaciären, skakad. På nästan 2500 meters höjd ser jag hur kraftiga linjer av is och grus övergår vid glaciärens slut i ett grustag. Jag hör dånet från floderna som rusar mot dalen nedanför. Det svindlar, landskapet är märkligt stilla, både påträngande och distanserat. Tills ovädret slår till.

Hur ska man förstå, tolka och ha tillgång till det som händer i ens egen tid? Idag, igen, upprepas att vi visste och vet men inget gjorde och gör.

Arbetet kring Dead Reckon (2018–) och Sense (Universal(s)) (2020 –) orienterar sig utifrån överlappande ämnen för att inta olika perspektiv och lyfta fram olika aspekter av hur kunskap inte har omsatts och skulle kunna omsättas i erfarenhet. Dead Reckoning means to determine your current position from previous measurements or estimates of your position and without input from a system measuring your absolute position. One major issue when relying on a Dead Reckoning solution is the sensor bias drift 1)

Arbetet äger rum där handlingar från olika tider och sammanhang ackumuleras och gör avtryck. Det ter sig alltmer rimligt att aktivt försöka växla perspektiv och utifrån t.ex. svamp och träd, lära sig mer om ”the wood wide web”. 2) En detalj i ett större narrativ i Sense (Universal(s)) utgör också berättelser om hur stress och utbrändhet idag används om både människor och natur –inklusive eken utifrån vilken bläcket framställts. Det bläck som en del av verken gjorts med.

Arbetsprocessen som möjliggjort verken i utställningen ”A Raft of Time” cirklar kring att konkretisera abstraktioner som mätbarhet, miljöpåverkan, tid och plats. Verken tar avstamp i de skärningspunkter som uppstår när olika ämnen överlappar och skapar nya rum.

Sophie Tottie (född 1964 i Stockholm) är konstnär och professor på Kungl. Konsthögskolan sedan 2012. Hon har studerat vid Konsthögskolan i Stockholm och på Institut des hautes études en arts plastiques i Paris.

Med material som måleri, teckning, objekt och video undersöker Tottie ämnen med situationsspecifika, existentiella, politiska och historiska referenspunkter i skärningspunkten mellan individen och större strukturella system.

Totties arbeten har visats på bland annat MoMA, New York, en vandringsutställning av Okwui Enwezor, i en utställning curerad av Hans-Ulrich Obrist och Laurence Bossé på Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris och på Venedigbiennalen 1997. Parallellt med konstnärligt arbete och vistelser utomlands har Sophie Tottie föreläst och undervisat sedan slutet av 1990-talet. Mellan 2001–2009 som professor på̊ Malmö̈ konsthögskola och 2009–2010 vid Harvard/VES.

1. http://liu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:797012/FULLTEXT01.pdf
2. Mycorrhizal network / www.sciencemag.org

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Belenius presents a solo exhibition with new works by Sophie Tottie, the artist’s second solo exhibition with the gallery.

A Raft of Time

Suddenly I’m standing there myself, without having planned it, by the glacier, shaken by how the snow is melting, by the thunder of rivers plummeting into the valley below. From a height of almost 2,500 meters I can see how bold lines are drawn through the glacier by ice and gravel, ending in a gravel pit. Everything is strangely still, distant and oppressive at the same time. And then the storm hits.

How can we understand and interpret what is happening in our own time? We learn again that we knew and that we know now. But we did nothing and we do nothing.

The work around Dead Reckon (2018–) and Sense (Universal(s)) (2020–) departs from overlapping topics and then assumes different standpoints, aiming to show different aspects of the problem that knowledge was not translated into experience, but could be.

“Dead Reckoning means to determine your current position from previous measurements or estimates of your position and without input from a system measuring your absolute position. One major issue when relying on a Dead Reckoning solution is the sensor bias drift.”[1]

The work takes place where actions from different time periods and different circumstances accumulate to make an imprint. It appears increasingly important to actively change our perspective, and to learn more about “the wood wide web,” starting with e.g. fungi and trees.[2]

One detail in the larger narrative of Sense (Universal(s)) is the fact that the words stress and burnout are nowadays used about human beings and nature – including the oak, which is the source of the ink used in some of the works shown.

The method used to produce the works in the exhibition A Raft of Time focuses on rendering abstractions comprehensible, like measurability, environmental effects, and time and place. The works depart from the points of intersection that arise when different topics overlap and create new perspectives.

Sophie Tottie (born 1964 in Stockholm, Sweden) is an artist and a professor at the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm. She studied at the Royal Institute of Art and the Institut des Hautes Études en Arts Plastiques in Paris. With material such as painting, drawing, objects, and video, Sophie Tottie examines topics with situation-specific, existential, political and historical reference points at the intersection of the individual and larger structural systems.

Tottie’s works have been exhibited at among other MoMA, New York, a travelling exhibition by curator Okwui Enwezor, an exhibition curated by hans-Ulrich Obrist and Laurence Bossé at Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris and at the 47th Venice Biennale. In addition to her work as an artist, and working abroad, Sophie Tottie had been teaching and lecturing since the late 90s. Between the years 2001 – 2009 she was a professor at the Malmö Art Academy and between 2009 – 2010 as a guest professor at Harvard/VES.

[1] http://liu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:797012/FULLTEXT01.pdf
[2] Mycorrhizal network / www.sciencemag.org

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