SCULPTURAL LANDSCAPES MALMÖ

AT GALLERI FORMAT, MALMÖ

Opening 15th January 2021

Ditte Knus Tønnesen (DK)

Emma Bäcklund (SE)

Inka and Niclas (FI)

Mathias Kruse Jørgensen (DK)

Miriam H. Nielsen (DK)

Curated by Trine Stephensen (NO)

15th January - 28th February 2021

Wed-Thu 2 - 6 pm
Fri 11 am - 4 pm
Sat-Sun 12 - 3 pm

Galleri Format, Claesgatan 14, Malmö, Sweden

Works depicting nature and landscapes are perhaps one of the longest-standing motifs of the art historical tradition, inspiring philosophical thought and depictions from cave paintings through to Romanticism and beyond. And yet today, even with the advent of contemporary techniques and technologies, works such as this are all too often overlooked if approached too conventionally. 

From a human perspective, there is little neutral about this biosphere that we are universally beholden to and affected by. Landscapes––the supporter of ecologies, histories and ecosystems––contain multitudes. It’s the role of the artist, as a storyteller, to chisel away at these great expanses, to reveal compositions and entanglements that may be overlooked by the average person. In order to break away from tired tropes and perspectives, image-makers should be aware of their influence on the public imagination, and be deliberate about the ways in which they mediate images—what story are they trying to tell? 

The artists showing work in this exhibition attest to the abundance of potential meaning landscapes hold. Grouped together under the title Sculptural Landscapes, the ideas approached in the artworks diverge widely in form despite hailing from relatively close regions across Scandinavia. They all recognise the potential of photography as a purveyor of experimental and conceptual work. Accordingly, the camera often only accounts for a fraction of the tools used in the creation of the artworks exhibited, which spill out of the photographic frame and into other material forms such as installation and mixed media. 

As artists working in contemporary times, it’s not unusual for them to be moving across disciplinary lines. But this assemblage of artists are enmeshed by their decision to weave their photographic processes back into the storyline: the work draws attention to each artist’s approach, as they intervene with and manipulate their images artfully. Shown together the works take on new life, forming questions and puzzles that the viewer can joyfully decode––what is the purpose of arranging these images and objects in this order? Where might I position myself within this expanded landscape? Where artists of this tradition once wrestled with grand ideas, these artists approach their craft with more modesty, under no illusion that one image can answer all of life’s questions, and in doing so, they reveal unusual disturbances and processes that highlight important perspectives, packaged in compositionally graceful and sculptural forms. Words by Georgie Sinclair

Ditte Knus Tønnesen (b. 1982) is a Danish artist and independent curator working with photography in a field between images and spatial constructions. She tests and investigates how different interpretations and world views becomes the accepted understanding of things – and how our understanding of 'reality' depends on our context, culture, religion and political standpoints. Working with photography in a much conceptual way, she questions and expands the medium with a great understanding of the qualities and histories of different materials.

Emma Bäcklund is a Swedish artist whose practice includes photography, performance and installation. She draws from her background in dance and interest in neuroscience to make work that is deeply influenced by both cognitive and physical experiences. Her work explore performative aspects of the photograph and the influence images have on habitual and gestural relations. Emma received her MA in Photography from the Royal College of Art, London, U.K, in 2017. Previous education includes a BA in Photography from London College of Communication (2015) and a Foundation Diploma in Graphic Design from Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design (2012), as well as an Art and Design Diploma from Stockholm University of Arts, Stockholm, Sweden (2010). She is currently part of the European Prospect project “A Woman's Work” and organiser of Artists and Allies Berlin. Her practice stretches into fields of curation, event programming, workshops and teaching.

Inka (Finland) and Niclas (Sweden) Lindergård is an awarded artist duo who works primarily with photography-based art. They have worked together since 2007 and live in Stockholm, Sweden. The materiality of photography is crucial in Inka and Niclas Lindergård’s work which tells of the contemporary perception processes of nature and the connection of the photographic medium with the stylisation of landscape.
Bright utopian landscapes in their works address the spectators’ experience, making them notice not only the beauty but also the culture. An open portal to the hyperrealistic synthesis of beauty, kitsch and visual desire in the language of photography. Their second book ‘The Belt of Venus and the Shadow of the Earth’ (2016, Kerber Verlag) revolve around performative photographic acts that can only be experienced through the photograph, an investigation into the of the act of taking a photograph and the camera’s role as a bridge between the physical world and the photographic. It was awarded the Swedish Book Art Award 2016 and nominated to The Swedish Photo Book Price 2018.

Mathias Kruse Jørgensen (b. 1991) is a Danish artist working with photography, sculpture, video and objects. He holds an MA in Photography from Royal College of Art in London (2018-20). Somewhere in between documentation and abstraction, Jørgensen examines objects, materials and phenomena of a manufactured world as well as their endless equally manufactured meanings and connotations in order to question the things we put into this world. With a great emphasis on both research and materiality, Jørgensen attempts to push the boundaries of the relation between form and content, and from that attempts to redescribe the conditions by which knowledge, meaning and truth come to be known. In 2020 he was awarded the New Photography Award (Jury: Marianna Simnett).

Miriam H. Nielsen is a visual artist and curator working with photography, video, sound, publications and installation. She is educated from the Danish Photographic Art School, Fatamorgana, and holds an MA in Visual Anthropology from the University of Copenhagen and a BA from Soas, University of London.

Trine Stephensen is a Norwegian independent curator based in Oslo/Amsterdam, interested in exploring new ways of presenting photography. She graduated from Goldsmiths in 2016 with a master’s degree in Contemporary Art Theory. In 2012, she founded A Corner With, a publishing and exhibition project with a focus on sculptural photography. Stephensen is known for her collaborative method of practice, as well as her sensitive approach to working with print and visual media. In 2018, Stephensen received the Special Jury Anamorphosis Prize for her self-published book MDAM, which is now part of the MoMA Library Collection in New York. She was previously commissioning editor of Unseen Amsterdam’s Unseen Platform and has worked with META/BOOKS, Iris Sikking, Self Publish Be Happy, and Paper Journal.