Platform 19 is the worst platform at Stockholm Central. Firstly, there are only two benches and people are reduced to perching on metal pipes along the walls. Secondly, it’s the last platform and, when they announce that the platform has changed and the passengers have to switch to platform 17, it’s a struggle for old, hobbly men to reach the train before it leaves.
It capped off what had been, up to that point, an excellent day in Stockholm.
I decided to head for the Moderna Museet in order to see the three exhibitions on at the moment and, naturally, to have lunch at Café Blom. Of all the cafés in all the museums in Stockholm, Café Blom is easily my favourite. Not only is the food and beer excellent, but it is in an excellent spot, especially when the sun is shining. Mind you, today it was shining a bit too much and they didn’t have umbrellas so I was happy to sit inside and look at the other patrons squinting and frying in their seats.
But I wasn’t just there to look at people; I also wanted to look at art. And I was in for a surprise.
I follow a few art accounts on Instagram and, the other day, a short piece about the artist, Maurizio Cattelan popped up. And, would you believe it? One of the current exhibitions, The Third Hand, features some of his iconic pieces. This, naturally, includes the one of the Pope having been struck by a meteorite.
This piece made me smile. A wide heathenish smile. Other people were also grinning as they walked by. I also loved his shrunken Sistine Chapel. The guy has an amazing imagination. And great skills. I think he also has a delightful sense of humour.
Another exhibition was called Seven Rooms and Garden and featured works by Rashid Johnson along with other pieces from the museum’s collection. I particularly liked the room titled Home; a large, square structure containing personal bits and pieces from Johnson’s life. I particularly liked the fact that the piece that inspired Home was also there.
However, I have to admit it was the postcards in Home that delighted me most of all.
Between 1968 and 1979, a Japanese artist (On Kawara) sent two postcards, every day, to various people. One of those people was the then curator of the Moderna Museet, Pontius Hultén who received 116 cards, stamped with the time he got up on that day. The postcards ring the room.
What a hilariously artistic thing to do. Again, this made me laugh.
The third exhibition on at the moment is called Pink Sails and features works on Swedish Modernism from the museum collection. Of course, there is the amazing stack of birch which had me enthusiastically walking around it, inspecting it, admiring its perfection. It was exactly like reading Norwegian Wood, only in wonderful 3D. Jon introduced me to the book back in 2021, and I’ve been commenting on wood stacks ever since.
By the way, the huge stack was the creation of artist Carola Grahn.
The sculpture is a horizon of birchwood stacked according to the artist’s detailed instructions. This monotonous task should be performed in seclusion while discussing mental health. The work was first performed in 2015, following several suicides in Sápmi, and in the version acquired by Moderna Museet, Carola Grahn has built the sculpture together with the poet and yoik singer Simon Issát Marainen who lost two brothers.
From: https://www.modernamuseet.se/stockholm/en/exhibitions/svenska-forvarv-2021/medverkande-konstnarer/
The piece I liked best though was a painting by Sven X-et Erixson. It’s called Tidsbild and shows the turbulent world of 1937. A line of newspaper headlines outside a Slussen newsagent, are plastered to a wall with people staring at them. Miserable stories about the state of the world mingle with one piece about a football game showing how ‘normal’ life continues while the world crumbles.
I love the intensity of the painting, the hellish redness of the ‘underworld’ contrasted with the world above it. I also love the fact that it’s yet another unappealing view of Slussen. (This is a private joke between Mirinda and me…oh and most residents of Slussen.)
It’s interesting how Swedish painters of the period created a lot of works around the turmoil while remaining neutral. It’s almost as if the artists wanted to highlight that, while Swedes were enjoying the comforts of home, internationally things were not quite as pleasant.
All three exhibitions were excellent but, I think, Pink Sails was my favourite. While the other two expanded my knowledge of the artists, Pink Sails painted a picture, so to speak, of a style that I find intriguing. Though there wasn’t a lot of humour.
On the day, however, my favourite piece was the shrunken Sistine Chapel.
This was a monumental piece made on a less than monumental scale. Brilliant. Well, apart from the title. I think artists who name things Untitled are copping out. Okay, it gives the viewer an opportunity to make up their own mind about the meaning and intent but, doesn’t it also say that the artist had no idea what they were doing or why?
Anyway, name aside, which, I guess, could also be ironic in this case, I thought it was fantastic. Walking in and admiring the walls and ceiling of the shrunken chapel is something I’ll not forget for a long time.
