Linn Fernström: Drawings at the turn of the year
February 22–March 31, 2019
Galerie Forsblom Stockholm
Opening in the presence of the artist, February 21, 5–7pm
Galerie Forsblom is happy to present new drawings by Linn Fernström. In this exhibition, Fernström’s focus has changed from the large-scale paintings she showed in 2018, to a small size paper format. With an effortless hand she utilizes oil pastel, bamboo-pencil and ink on paper in her works. The composition is well-balanced and the rich colors spread out and create the sky or the sea in the background. The smaller format and the restriction of the paper, invites you to step closer and to look more carefully. Thus, the elaborated spatiality creates an intimacy between the beholder and the artworks.
Some of the motives are familiar and occur in the artists previous paintings, such as the aerialist, exotic animals, wild flowers and children playing. The stories they tell are personal and there is a poetic and peaceful presence, as in Fernström’s later works. Perhaps the drawings can be seen as sketches for future paintings in the ongoing creative process. All of the drawings are, as the title reveals, made in a continuous and intensive period during the autumn of 2018 up to the beginning of 2019.
During the upcoming year 2020, a retrospective exhibition of Fernström’s most iconic paintings, including new works, will be shown at Liljevalchs Konsthall, Stockholm, Sweden. Her latest exhibition, The Air Behind your Back, with scenic monumental paintings, was shown at Galerie Forsblom in September 2018.
Fernström (b. 1974) studied at the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm, Sweden and has had numerous solo exhibitions in Sweden and Finland throughout her prominent career. She has participated in group-shows in Switzerland, Italy and China, among other places. Fernström’s works are represented in prestigious collections, including at the Moderna Museet, Bonniers Konsthall in Stockholm, Malmö Art Museum, Östergötlands Museum, Sweden, as well as in private collections. Fernström now lives and works in Stockholm, after being based in New York for many years.