In its first exhibition of the Semester, Galleri Pictura looks at two artists who share the same starting point: their immediate surroundings. The artists, Nanna de Wilde and Magnus Alexandersson, have had successful individual exhibitions and now exhibit for the first time together. Having been invited by the student run gallery, they agreed having heard positive things from their friends who had previously shown at Galleri Pictura.
Photo: Carl-Johan Kullving.
The creative process can often be one of isolation. Artists confront, challenge, reveal themselves in art. What then happens when two artists used to this isolating process choose to share a studio together?
“I was worried about sharing a studio at the beginning but it has actually been very good,” Magnus Alexandersson explains.
He has been sharing a studio with Nanna de Wilde for a year and their exhibition Reflexion looks at how they, and their surroundings – they also share a home together – influence each other’s work.
“I did not paint much before sharing a studio with Magnus.”
Nanna’s previous work has focused on sculpture but on display here are abstract drawings and water colours.
“They are about the body and feelings. I recognise the feeling of female experience and this comes out naturally in my work.” she says.
Her abstract painting Byst illustrates this. It is one of her first watercolours and soft purples, blues and reds combine into a sculpture of Aphrodite. There is no head.
“It is important that there is no head.” Nanna wants show a harsher element of the female experience. This sculpture, like almost every object Nanna uses is porcelain, and “domestic somehow.” Her current works are interested in the process the objects go through, transforming from “hard to soft.” She is investigating the flattening of the objects, putting feeling into them, through her work.
Magnus’ works are large, abstract landscapes. Straight lines of colour are used to create different perspectives on the subject. They are brightly coloured, dynamic paintings.
“It is interesting when different conditions meet and I want to investigate that state.” he says.
Magnus uses an horizon to illustrate his point. “There are different ways to look at the horizon, it can be in three dimensions, or it can be flat.” It all depends on your perspective. Form av stad (pictured) is a landscape of a city. Like the horizon, the painting changes depending on where you perceive it from. Magnus is trying to make it both three dimensional and flat, trying to show the point of meeting between the two states.
Magnus tries to turn the “abstract to the figurative.” Nanna confirms that there is a similar desire in her works. His paintings are a “meeting of different conditions” where “death meets the plain.” Hers, flattened objects, distorted into something new, yet remain familiar.
It is hard, at first, to see the reflection in each other’s work, as the paintings and drawings are very different. Magnus explains that it is an “unconscious influence”, an exchange between each other, which would not be possible if they did not share a studio. They are able to discuss the direction of their works with each other. It is clear that the idea of transformation runs through both of their work. Even in the composition.
“I have the motive – the composition – in my head but I do not know how it finishes,” Nanna explains.
Elaborating further, Magnus adds, “The motive transforms.”
Foto: Carl-Johan Kullving
They chose to show together after being invited by Galleri Pictura, having heard good reports from their friends.
“We thought it would be a nice idea,” says Nanna. The gallery is a student run initiative, with students volunteering their time to take on different roles. Helena Hägg, the current President, explains that it is a great way to get a foot into the cultural world and of working in a gallery, as it is as run in a professional manner. They collaborate regularly with Lund’s Konsthall. Everyone is welcome. Galleri Pictura wants to show that you can fuse ‘High Art’ with art people like and to do this each exhibition is democratically chosen, with everyone having a vote on what to show.
Galleri Pictura was founded in the 1960’s but closed down and was re-opened in the 1980’s, since when it has been running ever since. Being an art gallery, there is a large contingent of volunteers who study Art History, of which Helena Hägg is one. She has been involved in the initiative for two years and intends remain at least until the end of her studies. She is unsure as to whether she will seek work in a gallery after she graduates. Despite this, she clearly enjoys working with Galleri Pictura and would recommend that anyone with an interest also gets involved.
The Gallery puts on one show a month, aiming to have ten shows this year, and receives no funding from the city of Lund. However, it does receive some funding through Folkuniversitet. Being non-profit, the gallery aims to provide a space where artists can display without considering commercial interests. Its main focus is on young Swedish contemporary art.
Exhibition: Reflexion
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- WHERE: GALLERI PICTURA, Universitetshuset, Paradisgatan 2, Lund (top floor)
- WHEN: 12 september – 11 oktober, Tuesday-Friday 2 pm-5 pm.
- PRICE: Free of charge
As well as putting on an exhibition every month, they also run courses, such as life drawing classes, for members as well as arranging tours of Gallerys, video screenings and discussions about art. If you wish to get involved, they have meetings every Tuesday at 11.00 and more information can be found on their website, www.galleripictura.se.
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