This year, the Thiel Gallery is celebrating its 100th anniversary. The centennial begins with Together, an exhibition to highlight the fact that the Thiel Gallery is the result of concerted efforts. This is true, of course, of its founders, Ernest and Signe Maria Thiel, who built one of Sweden’s most impressive art collections together, but also of the many artists they supported and whose works have shaped the Gallery. It also focuses on the venue itself; the Thiel Gallery immediately became a meeting place for the art scene of its day. Based on a few collaborations that exist in the building, the exhibition turns our attention to our own time, exploring how artists create together today, how artistic disciplines interact with each other and with other aspects of life.
The Together theme is present throughout the total work of art that is the Thiel Gallery. Many of the male artists that form the core of our art collection had life partners who were also artists, including Carl and Karin Larsson and Karl and Tekla Nordström. Another seminal couple were the first director of the Thiel Gallery, the author and art critic Tor Hedberg and the actor Stina Hedberg. The architect Ferdinand Boberg, who designed the building, was married to the artist Anna Boberg. This exhibition asks in what way these relationships have influenced the individual artists and the Gallery.
The Fjæstads ran their own company and had an unparallelled say on the Thiel Gallery interior. Gustaf and Maja, along with Gustaf’s siblings, are represented with several paintings, textiles and a suite of furniture. Their total design is a reminder of the interaction and collaboration of artists and art forms.
The word Together can also address how we organise ourselves. One group with a dominating presence in the Thiel Gallery collection is Konstnärsförbundet, a federation in which artists rallied around shared ideals. Here, we focus on their collective identity: how did they perceive and communicate their shared belonging?
100 years after the Thiel Gallery was founded, we note how similar collaborations are relevant to this day, even if the perspectives have shifted. Co-existing with nature has taken on new dimensions compared to when Ferdinand and Anna Boberg painted mountains and glaciers in northern Norway. What does it mean to create something together today? How does community influence artistic creativity? What does making site-specific works entail? How do we engage with the issue of working together, if we look beyond the interpersonal exchange?
To gain perspective on these questions, we have invited four contemporary artist duos: Bigert & Bergström, Linda Pedersen and Henning Hamilton, Bella Rune and Jonas Nobel, and Martin Bergström and Thomas Klementsson. These artists work (and some of them also live) together. They employ a wide range of styles and materials, in various forms of collaboration – with one another, with other people, and with their surroundings.
Mats Bigert (b. 1965) and Lars Bergström (b. 1962) have worked together as Bigert & Bergström since 1986. Both studied at the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm and participate regularly on the international art scene with anything from monumental sculptures and installations to performance art and film. With a conceptual edge and quirky sense of humour, the duo analyses current scientific and social issues, such as climate change and environmental sustainability. The core of their collaboration is situated where humanity, nature and technology intersect.
Linda Pedersen (b. 1987) and Henning Hamilton (b. 1987) have been working together for a few years, alongside their own practices. Pedersen has a BA from the Konstfack University College of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm and also studied at the Camberwell College of Art in London and the Tokyo Zokei University. Hamilton attended the Konstskolan in Gothenburg but is largely an autodidact. In their individual practices, Pedersen mainly creates figurative sculptures, while Hamilton makes assemblages using objects sourced in his immediate surroundings. Together, they produce spatial installations, often based on found objects, enhancing or distorting their inherent designs.
Bella Rune (b. 1971) and Jonas Nobel (b. 1970) are best known for their respective individual practices but have also collaborated since 2013 on both exhibitions and public commissions, projects they refer to as Sagovolvo. Rune studied at the Beckmans College of Design in Stockholm and the Chelsea College of Arts in London. She employs many different techniques, including augmented reality and sculpture, often based on textile art forms. Nobel studied at the Umeå Academy of Fine Arts and co-founded the architecture and design agency Uglycute. His individual practice is focused on sculpture and other three-dimensional objects. Together, Rune and Nobel have created spatial installations, where elements of iron copper and wood are woven together through textile techniques.
Martin Bergström (b. 1978) and Thomas Klementsson (b. 1974) have co-operated on numerous projects for nearly two decades, although their practices are mainly individual. Bergström studied at the Konstfack University College of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm and Universität der Künste in Berlin. He is an internationally-famous fashion creator and designer, alternating freely between different artistic disciplines. Bergström is best known for his handmade floral prints. Klementsson is a photographer and filmmaker. Alongside his own productions, he frequently works for major Swedish and international fashion labels. In their joint film projects, the two artists combine their individual artistic styles, where dancers enact creations by Bergström and are suggestively filmed by Klementsson.
Acknowledgements to our lenders
Carl Larsson-gården, Issues, Nationalmuseum, Norrköpings Konstmuseum, Prince Eugen’s Waldemarsudde, the Swedish Museum of Performing Arts, Stockholm konst, and several private collectors.
