On the occasion of the solo exhibition Roundabouts, Bonniers Konsthall is presents the new publication Andreas Eriksson, published by Koenig Books.
One persistent question that pervades Western history is the relationship between nature and culture. This recurring theme in art, philosophy and politics is addressed by each and every generation that need to consider the topic in their respective way. In Andreas Eriksson’s case, this question is negotiated through a great interest in painting, both as a technique and theme. Utilising painting, photography, sculpture, weaving and film, Eriksson explores the picturesque. Andreas Eriksson occupies a unique place in both his native Sweden as well as on the international art scene. His paintings are often placed within the tradition of Northern European Romanticism—the subject matter is frequently garnered from the landscape surrounding Mount Kinnekulle, Sweden, where he keeps his studio—but his artwork is just as often the embodiment of an idea rather than a concrete image. A typical feature of his work would paradoxically be to constantly transform and create through mobility where forms of expression always translate themselves into something else.
In the publication, Sara Arrhenius, director of Bonniers Konsthall, discusses notions of time and the contrasting of geographical immobility and material mobility in Andreas Eriksson’s work. The urge to let the act of creation lead you to unknown places, rather than to follow a specific style, is discussed by Eriksson and Camilla Larsson, curator at Bonniers Konsthall. Pontus Kyander, curator and art critic, delves into the task of the painter and in close proximity with the artistic process of Andreas Eriksson he gives fresh insight into the relationship between the canvas, paint and artist. Kirsty Bell, writer and art critic, proposes a productive link between the act of painting and the act of memory, where Andreas Eriksson’s works could be seen as material recollections from nature as well as art history. She writes:
“[Andreas Eriksson’s] works often veer so close to the territory of pure abstraction, however, that landscape appears as if greatly magnified, and seems almost to become a function of perception, or a construct of the mind. Details of earth, rock, branch, or water are constantly revisited, with minor variation and nuance, until landscape becomes color itself; collections of mottled shades which gradually shift in accordance with the seasons, or sharpness of the light. In this sense, the landscape does not appear as a romantic or sublime setting for the individual, but rather as a given backdrop—a setting for the routines of life akin to the role of the canvas as ground for the activities of brush and paint.”
The book with its 32 pages long cover jacket that can be unfolded like a frieze, has been designed by Patric Leo, with the aim of allowing the art a space to both display its place of origin—so closely entwined with the artistic process—as well as the physical space it occupies in the world once completed.
The publication is published on the occasion of the exhibition Andreas Eriksson: Roundabouts at Bonniers Konsthall, Trondheim kunstmuseum, CentrePasquArt and Reykjavik Art Museum.
Contributors: Sara Arrhenius, Kirsty Bell, Andreas Eriksson, Pontus Kyander, Camilla Larsson
Editors: Sara Arrhenius, Sofia Curman, Camilla Larsson
Graphic Design: Patric Leo
Language: English
Published by: Koenig Books, London, 2013
Andreas Eriksson, Roundabouts is now available at Bonniers Konsthall and through Koenig Books.
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