We have the great pleasure of showing works by the artists Henrik Eriksson and Fredrik Nielsen who in different ways explore the expressive dimensions of art. In their various forms of expression, the focus is primarily on the material itself and the expressive power of the visual forms, while the narrative qualities of the works are left to the viewer’s own interpretations. As if their works are in motion, there are no given central perspectives or fixed points, everything takes place as if in a movement without any given inner point or outer frame.
In Henrik Eriksson’s paintings, which are shown in the upper room of the gallery together with Fredrik Nielsen’s glass sculptures, we encounter colours in the form of fields, spots or lines that creates alternately dense, alternately open and free surfaces. In some paintings, muted, warm tones lie close together in soft shapes and form a shimmer, while in other works there are strong and intense contrasts between surface and depth. Visions of a water or a landscape can suddenly appear but just as quickly disappear.
Henrik Eriksson’s way of painting has a pattern of gestures reminiscent of improvisation that fills the room with a strong presence. The rhytms of the paintings alternates between calm and intense expressions. The artist himself describes a working process where the act of painting and the mind interact intuitively and leave traces behind. As viewers, we can approach the paintings through a ”choreographic vision” and experience their imagery as an inner, physical sensation in the body. Each image with its own intensity and in an improvisational interplay with each other.
The physical presence is also central to Fredrik Nielsen’s expressive sculptures. The glass, which is the very starting point of his work, twists, and molds itself into complex, intense structures. Looking for a single point of attachment is meaningless; the glass seems to be in a state of becoming in a not yet solidified form. Colors seem to flow through, reminiscent of an abstract expressionist painting. Although there are details here and there to orientate, there are no given coordinates. Placed on low metal plinths with wheels, the sculptures can literally move around the room.
Fredrik Nielsen’s artistry and knowledge is based on glass, a craft he masters from education in Sweden and the US. He describes how the process of molding and working the material is a physical struggle that is fundamental to the expression of the sculptures. He often reuses already existing works – glass objects in the studio – rebuilding and adding on. He describes the physical work as a force from which creativity emerges in close interaction with the surrounding environment: music and urban culture. As if he wants to let his experiences, there and then, permeate the sculptures.
About the artists
Henrik Eriksson (b.1976), educated at the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm and at the Glasgow School of Art, has been active in Stockholm since the 2000s as an artist, curator, art consultant and teacher. He showed the exhibition ”Realities” at Galleri Flach in 2020 and participated the same year in ”Träden står ljust gröna: Landskap då och nu” at Bonniers konsthall. His works are represented in both private and public collections.
Fredrik Nielsen, (b. 1977), trained at Orrefors Glass School, Orrefors, Pilchuck Glass School, Seattle Washington, USA, and at the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm. He has exhibited in galleries and museums in Sweden and internationally since 2015. Recent exhibitions include Kunstbanken in Hamar, Norway 2023, Loewe Foundation at Seoul Museum of Craft, South Korea, 2022. His works are represented in both private and public collections in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Switzerland and the USA.