Inte nudda golv + Bortom Alldeles nara – 23 May to 4 July 2024 – Hudiksvallsgatan 6, 2nd floor – Open Tuesday–Friday 11–18, Saturday 12–16 and by appointment.
ABOUT the artists
Helén Svensson
Alexandra Kern
ABOUT the exhibition
Just as for Kern, a yo-yo dynamic between stillness and movement is at play in the encounter with nature in Helén Svensson’s large-scale and material-focused sculptural installation Inte nudda golv / Do not touch the floor. But if in Kern’s case it is the gaze that is constantly suggestively teased, in Svensson’s work it is also about tactile sensation and a physical close-to-the-skin relationship with nature. Wool, as an elementary natural material, evokes the reminder of a relationship with the material cultivated since childhood.
Here, the wool, contrary to how it is often seen in art, takes on a grand and majestic sculptural bodily form and becomes the “main thing.” The wool comes from surplus donated to Svensson by local sheep farmers around her countryside place. After that, a time-consuming and laborious purification process of the wool followed, and then a dyeing process with pigments from three different types of lichen. The lichen is a symbiotic organism and cross-fertilization of fungus and algae, which is emblematic since the work emerged in close dialogue and collaboration between Svensson as an artist and me as a curator at a stage in Svensson’s practice when new doors were to be opened.
In its manifestation, Inte nudda golv / Do not touch the floor appears as something that evokes thoughts of physical and gymnastic movements. A work that necessitates the body to adjust to it in various ways. The question then is really whether, and what one can actually do in the room. But the urge to engage doesn’t wait.
- Kern’s paintings are unusually captivating, not only because of their striking beauty but also due to the subtle yet palpable tension within the seemingly tranquil scenes. It’s as if the viewer’s gaze is propelled forward, in medias res, into an ongoing or concluded narrative where nature’s forms and colors simultaneously reveal and conceal their secrets.
In Alexandra Kern’s paintings, various layers of nature unfold in the open air, whether evoking marshlands, deep rainforests, or roadsides lined with bushes under a night sky, often rendered in an almost monochromatic palette. At the same time, a distinct foreground layer sharpens and engages the viewer’s gaze, inviting a deeper examination of the subsequent layers beyond the foreground and into the distant horizon. These layers may seem to conceal something hidden, which the foreground might be intended to protect or enclose, or signal something yet to be discovered.
Almost instinctively, I think of the legend of El Dorado and a promised land, a tale fundamentally about possibilities and the rewards of the quest. Kern’s paintings are unusually captivating, not only because of their striking beauty but also due to the subtle yet palpable tension within the seemingly tranquil scenes. It’s as if the viewer’s gaze is propelled forward, in medias res, into an ongoing or concluded narrative where nature’s forms and colors simultaneously reveal and conceal their secrets. – Text Ashik Zaman
ABOUT the Gallery
Galleri Duerr is a contemporary art gallery located since April 2022 in the gallery district at Hudiksvallsgatan in Stockholm. Owned and managed by Deborah Duerr, the gallery specializes in showcasing both Swedish and international artists, featuring a diverse array of mediums including painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, design, and performance arts.
Since our relocation to the Garnisonen area in 2018, and our move to Hudiksvallsgatan in 2022 into an iconic building designed by renowned Swedish architect Ragnar Östberg, our programming has expanded. The gallery now presents over 10 curated exhibitions each year. Galleri Duerr is a member of the Swedish Gallery Association. Deborah Duerr serves as both a current board member of the gallery association (Svenska Galleriförbundet) and a former board member of Design Sweden.
TAKEAWAY. In 2020, amid the unprecedented challenges of the pandemic, Galleri Duerr introduced the groundbreaking initiative, TAKEAWAY. The very name, TAKEAWAY, symbolized the era’s reliance on takeout dining, paralleling the shift towards alternative means of enjoying culinary experiences amidst lockdowns and social distancing protocols. Steeped in resilience and adaptability, TAKEAWAY began with an open invitation to emerging artists, designers, and craftsmen to showcase their work in a pop-up exhibition within our gallery space. It epitomized our unwavering commitment to supporting, promoting, and nurturing the arts during a period of profound uncertainty. Since its inception, TAKEAWAY has undergone dynamic evolution, forging impactful collaborations along the way. Notably, we have cultivated partnerships with art institutions across Sweden and joined forces with UU Market in Finland, expanding our reach and influence. Beyond the confines of our physical gallery, TAKEAWAY has thrived online, offering a platform for engaging with a more diverse audience.