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23.04.21- Galleri Magnus Karlsson – Thomas Broomé
Galleri Magnus Karlsson – Thomas Broomé – Mirrorland – April 15 to May 20, 2023 – Fredsgatan 12 – Open Tuesday–Friday 12–5 pm, Saturday 12–4 pm, and by appointment
ABOUT the artist
Thomas Broomé (b.1971) moves uninhibited between different techniques and materials in his artistry. With a curiosity and thirst for knowledge, he draws information and fuel from art history, science and philosophy. His interdisciplinary investigations turn into paintings, drawings, sculptures, video and installations that mix the logical with a touch of madness. Broomé lives and works in Stockholm. He is educated at Konstfack – University of Arts, Crafts and Design (1997–1999) and Valand Academy of Fine Arts (1993–1997). He worked for a long time as an artist together with the Interactive Institute in Stockholm. He has exhibited at galleries and museums in Sweden and internationally. He has done several public commissions, among others, for Hermès in Shanghai, China and the Drawing Hotel in Paris, France. Selected solo exhibitions: Institut Suédois, Paris, France, 2021, Galleri Magnus Karlsson, Stockholm, Sweden (2019, 2015, 2014, 2012, 2008 and 2006), Bendana Pinel Art Contemporain, Paris, France (2017, 2013, 2010), Hermès Liat Towers, Singapore (2016), Galleri Rostrum, Malmö, Sweden (2013), The Armory Show, Galleri Magnus Karlsson, New York, US (2011), Gothenburg Museum of Art, Sweden (2009), Market Art Fair, Galleri Magnus Karlsson, Sweden (2006), Borås Museum of Modern Art, Sweden (2006). His work is represented in the collections such as Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden, Magasin III, Stockholm, Sweden, Gothenburg Museum of Art, Sweden, Borås Museum of Modern Art, Sweden, The Public Art Agency Sweden as well as in numerous regional and county councils.
ABOUT the exhibition
We are delighted to announce Thomas Broomé’s seventh solo exhibition at the gallery. In Mirrorland, paintings, sculptures, objects and an interactive light installation are presented.
In Mirrorland, Thomas Broomé further develops his characteristic visual language where he uses letters, signs and words in repetition across the image surfaces. A personal and distinctive form of calligram that Broomé has explored for nearly twenty years. From the early black and white drawings, the works have become increasingly complex and multidimensional.
Thomas Broomé began the work with Mirrorland in the first half of 2020, at a time when much of what we took for granted and ideas we lived by were put to rest. In Mirrorland, Broomé was able to examine these new conditions through an inverted and alternative reality. It can be seen as a parallel universe where everything exists in reverse and prevailing rules and systems are set aside. By entering this mirrored world, Broomé questions the real world. It is a thought experiment where Broomé intuitively explores language, connotations, perception and how we understand and relate to one another and the contemporary world.
The core of the exhibition is a new series of paintings where Broomé has worked with a multi-layered imagery. The painting technique mimics how the human eye registers what we see. The first layer is painted softly and realistically in grey scale, as how we perceive light and dark with the help the rod cells in our eyes. The colours enters in the second layer, where Broomé starts from the red, blue and green captured by the cone cells. These two layers form what we can call the visible reality. The third and final layer of the paintings are letters, where the words are written repetitively on the objects. Here, what we know about what we observe and the meaning we attach to the object is conveyed.
As the name implies, Mirrorland is a place where I can explore a mirrored reflection of the world. I travel through concepts and ideas and make paintings that initially relate to real spaces. Then I rearrange furniture, light, colours, composition and by writing reversed text on its surface, I slowly move into Mirrorland.
– Thomas Broomé
ABOUT the gallery
Galleri Magnus Karlsson was founded in 1990. The first 7 years the gallery was located in Västerås, a city 100 km west of Stockholm. It gradually gained a reputation as one of the most interesting contemporary galleries in Sweden. In August 1997 the gallery moved to Riddargatan 29 in Stockholm.
The focus of the gallery has been to present emerging artists from Sweden and establish long term relations and representations. The gallery has done international art fairs since 1999, such as Liste, Basel, Art Forum Berlin, Frieze Art Fair, London, The Armory Show, New York , ABC, Berlin, Chart, Copenhagen, Frieze Art Fair, New York, Art Berlin & FIAC, Paris, to present those artists also internationally. The gallery also co-produces exhibitions, pop-up exhibitions and projects with museums and galleries in Sweden and abroad.
The gallery is, since 2005, located on the ground floor of The Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts on Fredsgatan 12.
Hellvi Kännungs is Galleri Magnus Karlsson’s summer project room in a rebuilt limestone barn on the island of Gotland. Since 2011 it is an alternative exhibition space to the gallery in Stockholm. Some of the gallery artists have curated their own exhibitions here and it has been a place to explore new ideas. Hellvi Kännungs has become a meeting point for artists and public in an environment completely different from the urban gallery space. The proximity to nature and the seclusion has contributed to a prestigious and inspiring atmosphere. In addition to the exhibitions, the gallery artists have also stayed at Hellvi Kännungs during periods of work and relaxation.
The gallery is a partner in the hotel Le Manoir in Banyuls-sur-Mer. This little gem is located in French Catalonia where the Pyrenees meet the Mediterranean Sea. We have made presentations by some of our artists here and works by gallery artists are shown in the public areas and bedrooms throughout the hotel.
http://www.gallerimagnuskarlsson.com