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I had to go into Stockholm this morning to order my new Australian, almost expired, passport. This entailed a visit to the 8th floor of the incredibly tech controlled Waterfront building where the turnstiles talk directly to the lifts based on a QR code printed on a small bit of paper. Here I was welcomed by a lovely Scottish chap who took my form and relevant documents and started the process of ordering.
Afterwards we chatted about our Swedish experiences. He said he was glad that he had come to Sweden at an advanced age rather than as a young fellow. All of his time going to raves, nightclubs and just out carousing were over and he yearned for a quieter life. As he said, he would have had a very different experience as a young man.
I agreed with him. I often read about younger people having problems making friends, finding social groups and, generally, having fun outside their solo lives. Most Swedes have already established their social groups from school. It’s one of those rare instances of when old age is a good thing.
Anyway, given I was in Stockholm, I decided to combine the organisational with a visit to Sven-Harry’s. I haven’t been for ages and, after checking out their current exhibition, was keen on going.
The exhibition was called Family – for better or worse.
The curators had gathered works from all over the place. There was a tiny Zorn etching, a couple of pieces from Ylva Snöfrid, a fantastic painting by my favourite Swedish artist, Marie-Louise Ekman and, naturally, some Carl Larsson.
As the title says, all the works had something to do with family. From the amazing to the not so great. In fact, in the media room, in the film, Sven-Harry is shown presenting a TV programme about his life and he explains how his father was abusive and made his childhood pretty awful. His sister agreed. They were both quite tearful.
There were also, as you’d expect, depictions of Mary and Jesus.
Quite enigmatic was a very big painting by Ylva Snöfrid of her dead father, lying on, what appears to be a gurney, a sheet covering his body. The painting is mostly red. This colour palette was used because her father’s favourite painting was Harmony in Red by Henri Matisse which, coincidentally, was featured in an online lecture I attended tonight after getting home.
Possibly the most disturbing piece was this.
To quote the information card “This vertical splitting into halves offers a violent counterpoint to the vulnerability of the child’s gestures [eg holding his brother’s hand] and demeanour.” Apart from anything else, it looks like a view through an open door where the other halves are hidden behind the walls either side.
The statue is intriguing. It sits in the middle of the gallery commanding the viewer to look at it. It says a lot about Krisár‘s relationship with his brother if nothing else.
Overall, I thought the exhibition was excellent, if too small. The main floor of the gallery had been reduced to half its normal size and the upper floor was likewise smaller. It could easily have had more works but, I guess, they couldn’t get any others.
And, of course, there was no catalogue. I say ‘of course’ because there normally isn’t when the exhibition consists of the works of various different artists and, in this case anyway, is quite small. A shame but at least a visitor can take photos of both works and information cards.
And, naturally, I had a favourite, the choice of which was easy. Of course, it was the Marie-Louise Ekman painting.
I just love her work.
It was a marvellous exhibition, for all its size limitation and made for a splendid day out, especially for an old man in Stockholm.
And, of course, I renewed my Australian passport which is, of course, a necessary part of modern life.
