After a very late start (Mirinda had a meeting with Portugal) we set off for Fotografiska. It’s somewhere we’ve been a few times. The first time was back in April 2021 when we discovered the famous Fika Trolley. The trolley is put away this time of year so the temptation was nicely removed. Not that they didn’t have some lovely biscuits upstairs in the bar.
We had sort of planned to go to Skansen, but it was raining – I got wet walking to the Coop first thing – so figured being inside would be a better idea. We walked to the bus stop just around the corner and headed for Slussen.
We then walked to the gallery. Beside rather than along, the road works.
There have been a few changes since we were last down there. For a start, the bus stops have moved and the old spot is now a big dug up mess. The buses are now sitting on a big pontoon, specially made for them.
All the changes made it feel like the distance was so much further. This is wrong. The gallery has not moved. Obviously. What they have done is create a wall outside, blocking out the road and making things feel a lot better for the dining visitor sitting outside with a club sandwich and a beer.
As we sat having lunch, the Gin Bike Woman arrived and expertly drove her precious cargo to the bar.
It’s hard to see from this photo, but she is riding a three wheeled electric scooter with great skill and dexterity. I congratulated her on a successful gin delivery.
But, of course, it was soon time to enter the gallery and look at photographs.
There were four exhibitions on, the main one being the photographs of Anton Corbijn, photographer to pop stars everywhere. And movie stars and everyone else connected to popular culture.
Disturbingly, he was born the same year as me, but he looked way younger. Mirinda said if I had my hair cut and got rid of the beard, I’d look 30 too. Or was that 32?
His photographs span many years, his skill with a camera exceptional. This year sees him celebrate not just his 70th birthday but also 50 years in the business. Possibly the most amazing thing is that I’d never heard of him.
And yet, he was a permanent fixture around pop stars from, the 1980’s, 90’s and naughties.
His photos are amazing. I particularly liked his series of photos of himself posing as some of his famous subjects. For instance, here’s Frank Zappa.
He has also directed music videos and a room has been dedicated to his contribution to the musical visual arts. A series of songs, complete with moving pictures, thrums out of speakers and plays on giant TV screens around the darkened room. Mirinda found me a chair and I sat and enjoyed the sounds of the 80’s and 90’s.
As I sat and enjoyed, many older people entered the room. I kept thinking they wouldn’t enjoy the music very much given their age. When they didn’t leave straight away, I wondered why. I then realised they were mostly around my age and, of course, it’s also their music. This made me realise that I am now one of ‘them’.
Anyway, enough of that miserable realisation, there were more works to explore. Most notably, the amazing filmic collages of Marco Brambilla.
His exhibition is delightfully named Double Feature as it features bits from Hollywood. Both pieces are on a loop, moving up through, what appears to be, heaven and down into hell. I loved them, obviously, and if I had to compare them to something I’d suggest Hieronymus Bosch.
To quote Johan Vikner, Global Director of Exhibitions at Fotografiska: “Marco Brambilla’s work takes us to oversaturated, exaggerated worlds of maximalist popular culture, which with a large portion of satire refers to our overexposure and obsession with the entertainment industry, overconsumption and production. Brambilla’s art is extraordinary to experience and we are very happy to share this exhibition with our Stockholm audience.“
It’s tricky representing a video in a single frame but here’s an attempt.
I noticed a guy sitting next to me who actually filmed the entire piece. Hopefully he watched it through his eyes the first time.
After sitting through both loopings a few times, I headed next door to another exhibition, this one called On Being Family. It featured the works of three women photographers, Ewa Stackelberg, Anna Clarén and Hannah Modigh. Some of the pieces were beautiful, some haunting, however, what I really liked about the exhibition was a short video featuring the three women and what ‘family’ meant to them. It was very moving.
It was also a bit freaky given where I was sitting watching the video, I had a view of a haunting photograph of a woman who looked very much like my mother when she was younger.
Back in the real world, we headed back to the flat for a bit of a rest before dinner. And what a dinner.
Tonight we visited Blue Light Yokohama for the best Japanese meal I’ve had since our visit to Japan in 2017. It was amazing. I can’t recommend it highly enough. In fact, as we told the main guy working there, I already want to come back for my birthday. It is just superb.
And I had the saki flight with the meal. And the guy knows his saki. It was an education in fine rice distilling. It reminded me of malt whisky tastings I’ve had.
An excellent way to complete the day. And it takes our tally of international cuisines to eight: Spanish, Peruvian, French, Italian, Thai, Greek, Lebanese and Japanese. I am so loving this game.
