Press Release

The exhibition presents new works by Eske Kath and Johan Nobell.

Eske Kath presents new paintings, collages, and sound sculptures. His paintings consist of a series of structured elements that sometimes seem spacious and at other times break with the established space. Tight, architectural forms mix with emotionally charged symbols such as mountains, flowers, and drops that almost transgress or steer the constructivist painting.

The paintings balance between nature and culture, space and in-between, the optically transparent and the massive, appearing deliberately conscious, superficial yet poetically narrative. Superficial because seemingly smooth, translucent surfaces are painted opaquely and flawed, hinting that something may be hidden beneath the surface. A surface that the paintings and collages themselves draw attention to: sometimes the canvas is replaced by denim, other times by paper cut-outs from advertisements used as part of the work. Glitter, embroidery, and spray paint are also applied. These simple effects connect symbolically with the everyday life of pop culture.

The relationship between a painterly depth and a superficial skin is equally perplexing in Eske Kath's sculptural “speaker cabinets.” Sculptural drops made of ceramics hang from the gallery walls. The ceramic is a surface, and the hollowness of the material creates a pronounced resonance and interference in the sound emission of the sculptures, making them vibrate. The sound thus becomes both visual and physical, adding a lyrical and poetic impression to the exhibition.

Johan Nobell grew up in the countryside of Gammelgarn, Gotland, and paints landscapes in oil on canvas. Landscape painting has retained its place in art as a metaphor for the general condition. Topics in this genre's history, as well as its emphasis on mastering subtle nuances, enable Nobell to simultaneously bring directional insight and a unique readiness to confront irrationality.

In his landscapes, scenes of sprouting vegetation and mechanical parts are combined, including burning fire, stumps, and other remnants—elements appearing behind the canvas—with abstractions that do not allow themselves to be clearly identified. Nobell’s paintings work in two planes: at a distance, they appear as panoramas of foreign landscapes, but upon closer inspection, they reveal themselves to be landscapes seen through a microscope. Order is deceiving, and upon closer scrutiny, one sees that Nobell's landscapes vibrate with threats, conflicts, and contradictions, where fragmented operations resemble guerrilla movements in an unmanageable terrain. The landscape is an overrun and desolate area. Nobell’s paintings depict a pause, a moment between battles. The struggle is over, yet it isn’t.

Johan Nobell was educated at Valand 1989-94 and now lives in Stockholm. In 2001, he received an IASPIS scholarship at ISCP in New York. Later this year, he will have an exhibition at Pierogi 2000 in New York.

Johan Nobel