ISSUES

ISSUES presents a new body of work by Karl Norin in a temporary and specific location. Karl’s paintings are often mistaken for large scale photographs. While the paintings share many of the properties held by photographs––freezing a moment in time by capturing the light in chemistry, contradictingly, his works are not representations or pictures. They do not depict a landscape or movement but are actually landscapes in which a movement has occurred.

What’s new in this series is the introduction of metal objects. The glasses, scissors or keys, found in the alien milieu suggest actions but they are also agents that instigate a narrative in the viewer's mind. Looking at them as paintings we see a dystopian scene where debris of everyday man-made objects are trapped in a synthetic environment, reminiscent of a lifeless celestial body or a magnified surface of organic tissue. While enthralling as images, the artworks convey a feeling of abandonment and stand as a testament of the contemporary artist in relation to timelessness––what object is recognisable, carries meaning and has a socio-political relevance?

For this exhibition by Karl Norin, ISSUES temporarily occupies one of Stockholm’s most legendary gallery spaces. For seventeen years it was used by Galerie Nordenhake whose precise and minimal standard acted as backdrop to many of the most important gallery shows of recent Swedish art history.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a text written by Jenny Danielsson.

KARL NORIN b. 1982 in Fjällbacka, lives and works in Stockholm. Karl holds an MFA from the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm. Solo shows include True Crime at ISSUES(2024); Justitia at Belenius, Stockholm (2018) and Soosh Soosh… at Bill Brady, Miami, USA (2015). Group shows include Downtown Issues II at ISSUES, Stockholm (2023); Ghost in the Machine curated by Erik Berglin at Galleri Thomassen, Gothenburg (2022); Downtown Issues at ISSUES, Stockholm (2021) ISSUES #4 at ISSUES, Stockholm (2017), Malmö Sessions with Carl Kostyál, Malmö, Sweden (2019); At Six Gallery — Norin, Sjöberg, Göthlin, Peirone, Rupini, Retzlaff with Belenius at At Six, Stockholm; Friends in Need (2016) and Meet Your Maker (2014) at Carl Kostyál, Stockholm; Swedish Art: Now! at Sven-Harrys Konstmuseum, Stockholm (2016)and Think For Me, Please at Belenius, Stockholm (2013) and Nobody Knows You’re A Dog, Kalmar Konstmuseum, Kalmar (2012).

His work is represented in numerous public, private and corporate collections such as the SEB art collection.