Eek & Johansson
Swedish Democracy

08. - 31.05.2015

Marcus Eek and Michael Johansson’s joint exhibition, Swedish Democracy, shows why our western neighbours will succeed at whatever they do. It also shows why they can succeed at something that works so very rarely: combining painting and sculpture in a way that is organic and pleasurable. Swedish democracy is founded on more than a century of cheerful collaboration: a good life and good quality of life. Swedes know how to do things together. They trust each other and know how to have fun.

 

The Swedish Democracy exhibition brings together two different approaches to making art: the experimentality and physicality of Marcus Eek’s painting and the extremely precise conceptuality and execution of Michael Johansson’s working process create a tension and an exciting, integrated whole in the gallery space. The arrangements of colours and hues characteristic of each artist create a joyful energy, and an exhibition that is full of surprises.

 

The starting point for Marcus Eek’s artworks, which occupy the border between the abstract and figurative, is the painting process itself, and the various approaches to the handling of paint. “Archetypes” from nature, such as the forms of flowers and trees, bind his works and give them and unity.

 

“There is such an uncontrolled approach to how I work, I don’t use beamers or photos as method or reference, and cannot plan that much ahead since the process is such a central part of the final work. Hopefully this creates an interesting dynamic with the obviously carefully and meticulously executed sculptures of Michael Johansson.” – Marcus Eek

 

Michael Johansson constructs his sculptures and sculptural installations out of the everyday objects that he finds. At the start of his career, he found his objects in flea markets, selecting them to suit the conditions of the specific aesthetic that he had in mind. Since then, his works have more often been site-specific, with Johansson finding his building materials, for example, in the storehouses of institutions and buildings.

 

“And since all the items I use already come with a defined color and shape, as well carrying their own narratives, I almost feel that the work creates itself once I begin making it. The limitations within each work are what make up their starting point and the reason for why they exist. When all the riddles are solved and everything fits perfectly together, it is almost as if the work was predestined to be put together in one particular way.” – Michael Johansson

 

 

Marcus Eek (b. 1968, Stockholm) lives and works in Berlin. He graduated from the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm in 1997. Eek has had several solo exhibitions in Sweden and has participated in collective exhibitions in the Nordic countries and elsewhere in Europe. He has had three solo exhibitions at Helsinki Contemporary (Minnesluckor | Black-Outs 2008, Extra Real 2010, Sunshine & Love, 2013).

Michael Johansson (b. 1975, Trollhättan) graduated from Malmö Art Academy in 2005. In addition to international museum and gallery exhibitions, he has carried out numerous commissioned works for public spaces and buildings. Swedish Democracy is Johansson’s first appearance at Helsinki Contemporary.