ISSUES

Issues presents painting and sculpture by young, contemporary and familiar artists in a new and unfamiliar room. Like the new underground commuter train station below Odenplan, there is a new white cube on the Stockholm art scene but behind the Hillenberg restaurant on Humlegårdsgatan. What’s to be observed in both cases is that the mental and physical room and map is expanded in front of the Stockholm audience. Where bottlenecks are created in the public transport flow, pressure has to be released through new lines and stations in other places.

On the initiative of chef and restauranteur Niklas Ekstedt and in addition to restaurant Hillenberg, a room for contemporary art opens. It turns out that the room that has no apparent use for the restaurant has the potential to become one of the better rooms for contemporary art in Stockholm. When the access to commercial and central spaces of this size is limited for small galleries, we are happy to be able to use this room for Issues, says Oscar Carlson, artistic director at Issues.

ALFRED BOMAN b. 1981 Luleå. Lives and works in Stockholm.

Alfred studied in prof. Tobias Rehberger’s class at HfBK Städelschule in Frankfurt, Germany. He is a painter and sculptor using a wide range of techniques, all at once, resulting in visually generous works, both abstract and figurative in nature. Boman’s work has been shown at Galerie Nordenhake in Stockholm and Johan Berggren in Malmö, Union Pacific and Carl Kostyál in London, Fluxia in Milan and at Paramount Ranch in California.

GINA BEAVERS b. 1974 Athens, Greece. Lives and works in New York City

Gina holds an MFA from the Art Institute of Chicago. The imagery extruded in the many layers of acrylic paint derive from the desires of the western culture. Beauty products, foods and sports equip- ment are pictured in the three-dimensional canvases. Her work has been shown at PS1 MoMA, Gavin Brown’s Enterprise and Cheim & Read in New York, Michael Beneveto in Los Angeles, Gynp in Berlin and Loyal in Stockholm.

HENNING HAMILTON b. 1987 Gothenburg. Lives and works in Stockholm.

Henning collects debris found on the beaches of Kalvö in the Gothenburg archipelago from which he creates objects that are figurative, representative and abstract in nature. He then puts the sculptures in three categories, EUROPEANA, ANIMALIA and ULTRAMARIN. Hamilton’s works has been shown at NSFW in Gothenburg, Tatjana Pieters in Ghent and Moscow, Carl Kostyál in Stockholm and with Senoren in various places.

JIM THORELL b. 1981 Stockholm. Lives and works in Stockholm.

Jim studied at schools in Finland, Japan, Vietnam and Austria before receiving his MFA from Valand Academy in Gothenburg. Setting out in drawing and working figuratively in a wildly expressive manner, his intuitive painting produces larger-than-life live things. Thorell’s work has been shown with Carl Kostyál in Stockholm, Gillmeier Reich in Berlin, Tatjana Pieters in Ghent and Union Pacific in London, S2 Gallery in New York City, Wanås Konst and Moderna Museet in Malmö.

OLGA PEDAN b. 1988 in Kharkov, Ukraine. Lives and works in Somerset, England.

Olga studied at HfBK Städelschule in Frankfurt, Germany. She uses video, installation, painting and sculpture to explore the little known territories and effects of online economies and tendencies. Pedan’s work has been shown at Montague Space in London, DREI in Cologne, Dortmunder Kunstverein in Dortmund, Gillmeier Reich in Berlin, Basis in Frankfurt and was presented separately at Issues in November 2017.

THOMAS HÄMÉN b. 1987 Luleå. Lives and works in London.

Thomas just finished his two-year residency at De Ateliers in Amsterdam. Employing a wide range of references and tools, Hämén creates installations that gives form to poetry. This year, Hämén is also one of three curators for the Luleå Biennal. His work has been shown at Art Rotterdam with Rod Barton, Clearview Ltd in London and in the survey Swedish Art: Now! At Sven-Harrys Konstmuseum in Stockholm.

Issues was founded in Stockholm 2014 and has produced exhibitions in specific places, places that almost exists more in the visitor’s mind than in real life. In 2015, Issues showed the American artist Ryan Trecartin’s video artwork ‘CENTER JENNY’ on 196 screens at the home electronics store Media Markt in Stockholm, during and after opening hours. Offering an alternative to the non-space of the white cube, Issues will continue to work with artists to realize projects in unconventional places for exhibitions or in places that expand the contemporary art landscape.