Peter Blum Gallery is pleased to present a solo exhibition of recent paintings by Paul Fägerskiöld (b. 1982, Sweden) at the 2020 ADAA The Art Show, Booth D3
Since the early 2010s, Paul Fägerskiöld’s work has concretely explored color theory, perception, and symbolism. In his recent paintings made in 2019 and 2020, they stem from two interconnected branches of the artist’s practice: Landscapes and Spray. When viewed together, the oil or spray paint works create a constellation of meaning that traverse time, scale, and language. These continue Fägerskiöld’s investigations into how we measure our experience and perception of the world.
The new works from Landscapes consist of canvases with dense impasto application of oil paint creating topographical and geological surfaces of reduced forms floating on fields of raw linen. The material shapes reference both skies and landscapes acting as a ground, while the unpainted negative spaces appear as horizons between the large expanses of solid forms. For Fägerskiöld, the circle represents one of the great primordial images of mankind and in viewing the symbol, we also see ourselves. These adeptly executed works act to reconfigure dimensionality and pictorial depth through their flat color fields, while also reworking symbolic signification.
In the new Spray paintings, Fägerskiöld applies delicate, textural layers of directed spray paint on raw linen to create hovering fields of color. From afar, the composition appears as an abstract monochrome within the confines of the framed space, creating a defined area of perception. Upon closer investigation, the overall color breaks down into its tiny constituent dots, going deeper into a boundless space, and into the materiality of the physical surface. Fägerskiöld describes them as “naturalistic paintings” that are created “as liberated from time, place, and even gravity.” Calling into question aspects of perception, the works appear to contract and expand upon different viewings.
Educated at the Royal Institute of Art, Stockholm and at the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna, Fägerskiöld has had numerous solo museum exhibitions including: Borås Art Museum, Borås, Sweden (2019); Bonniers Konsthall, Stockholm, Sweden (2016, 2010); and Moderna Museet, Malmö, Sweden (2013) among others. His work is in many permanent collections including: Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY; SEB Art Collection, Stockholm, Sweden; and The Olbricht Collection, Berlin, Germany among others.