All these artists
Lennart and Stig and I are very firm in each other’s opinion. I think there are most artists in Röstånga, Lennart claims that there are most in Konga and Stig says that there are even more in Ask and some are in Billinge and another that there are most in Stockamöllan. It’s really nice that there are so many. Not everyone is a painter either. Today, there are also several rooms where art is displayed. On the one hand, there is the large permanent collection in Röstånga Gästis, where the largest collection Per Gummeson is located. It is actually the largest at all. Not even Malmö Museum’s is as large as Gästi’s collection. But it is clear that they have other things as well. Art is shown in Röstånga art gallery, which is really good and interesting. Maybe a little badly used. It’s Cafe´ Fenix, which almost always has an exhibition.
This summer there are two halls, art galleries, that I have been to exhibitions in. The first was parts of the group Primavera, which for a large part of the summer showed mainly oil and acrylic paintings. The exhibition space was the National Park Centers Turtistbyrån in Röstånga It was a large exhibition. There were about ten exhibitors, of which I chose to talk to a couple of three. They are all from our immediate surroundings. The second exhibition – with people from the same area – used Galleri Ekbacken in Bonnarp as an exhibition space.
Sadly, I had to limit the number of exhibitors mentioned and I actually had to resort to a dubious method for this choice. I have started from the proximity to my home. And what other method would be more correct. Should I judge the jury and go on some form of quality in the art or even the age of the artists, or how enlightened everyone is. Yes, I can actually find any number of criteria. Now it was distance and within 500 meters I found, within 1000 meters there were already too many exhibitors. I chose these seven: Siv Arvelid, Jonas Dahlqvist and Inger Johnsson, Stefan Karlsson, Lisbeth Lindkvist, Kjerstin Olsson and finally Judith Wennerlund. Then there is this with the column space. Split space and Cubare travel. In other words, there have been further reductions in the number. This choice meant that several techniques are included, but the most common is acrylic painting. Other techniques will be included in the text.
It is 18 years since Anders and Siv Arvelid moved to Korea. Then Siv had a long experience of image creation from early childhood, behind her. This interest was strengthened during the study period, not least at the seminar in Kristianstad. Drawing was also for many children, Siv met during his teaching career, of course, highlights of life.
Coming to Korea, Siv met a female artist, who was Swedish. With her, Siv started painting. She then continued to study painting with various Korean artists. Siv developed his own technology. This technique involves tearing paper of different quality, color and thickness. The paper is attached to the canvas with acrylic paint. The paper is a Korean paper “Hanji” made from the bark of the Mulberry Tree. The finished painting has a relief-like character where the surfaces are also processed with, for example, charcoal and pastel colors. It is such a painting, as picture 1. shows. Siv Arvelid has participated in many exhibitions in both Korea and Sweden. She also sells at all exhibitions, mainly at the solo exhibitions, while the group exhibitions do not provide income with good experience and friendship.
In strict alphabetical order, it will be Jonas Dahlqvist’s turn. Together with his partner Inger Johnsson, Jonas shares his interest in raku firing of ceramics. He himself paints in a spontaneous tradition, both lyrically and epically. He exhibited both types of art at the Ekbacken gallery in Bonnarp, a couple of weekends before the autumn came. The paintings I have seen are very appealing, but here only two figurines of horses are shown. It is a ceramic process with double firings and after the second firing there is a reduction of the glaze in an organic material. In this way, you can, in fact, get the metal in the glaze free of oxide and very beautifully shiny. Inger succeeded with the feat of getting metallic copper on the inside of the mold in a raku-burnt piece. Usually, an appealing crackling of the glaze occurs in this procedure. There are also some raku-burnt masks on the plot on Solgatan. Can it even be called public art? In ceramics, Inger and Jonas work together.
Stefan Karlsson and Lisbeth Lindkvist work together in the same way. In both the Dahlqvist / Johnsson case and Karlsson / Lindvist, it is the women who have taken the initiative for the artistic activity. This has meant a number of opportunities to do interesting things together. I have not encountered this kind of interest before and it will be really good.
Since on the next visit I got with me a co-produced painting, to which Stefan Karlsson has made the layout and Lisbeth Lindqvist the details and finish, I can also follow the rule of correct letter order here. I like that painting. This is what ripe peas look like and the stems and leaves really show the growth power of the pea plant. Both spouses come from Lund and share the interest with the writer for the Museum of Sketches. It is both fun and educational to walk around in that museum. Lisbeth has been painting for 15, 20 years and has taken drawing and painting courses starting at Skånska målarskolan. They also take part in an exhibition every other year in Germany, which is a big event. Then you can also sit in front of the easel part of the time and enjoy concentrating on your painting.
Stefan’s cityscape is a symbolic image with the entire social ranking of the city. The drawing is already safe and the colors are simple and clear, as on modernist paintings. Lisbeth’s cornucopia is based on a very old picture idea in a new vintage. The colors are simple and clear in a modernist way. It’s really very interesting.
There are currently two artists running art school activities in our area, Jörgen Salmose and Susanne Jardeback. Billingekeramik also has art activities, arts and crafts. Those presented above spend part of their time on art courses. These are often courses with 8 to 10 opportunities per semester and with individual studies in between. Diligent practice, this is what art studies look like around Europe. Several of those presented above have implemented this. On the other hand, the close contact with like-minded people does not seem to be general. So it can seem isolating. There do not seem to be the cafes and restaurants where people can meet after work and study. There also does not seem to be a need for cafes with generous credits, which was the hallmark of the artist cafes in Paris in the past. There also seems to be a lack of simple showrooms.
But this is certainly a different story.
It was good that I managed to find the exhibitions both in the National Park Center in Röstånga and in galleries, which are in the framework workshop I use in Bonnarp. During the summer, both of these premises have had exhibitions with artists who live in the area. For a long time, these have attended courses with local course leaders, alternating with courses with other educators. The exhibitors have lived here between 1 and 4 centuries. Someone as long as me. There is no place where I lived anymore. And after 40 years, I discover that nowadays those interested in art are greater than the interest in literature. It feels weird and dizzying. Or is it simply the case that there are correspondingly writers of poetry as well as prose and essays, from whom one is not allowed to see the works either. The manuscripts are in the classic drawer. I find that sad.
Text: Sven Ockborn. Photo: Stig Pettersson
