HIT

Tuesday 2nd October - evening reception, by invitation only, 6-8.30pm
Thursday 11th October - public evening view, 6-9pm
Open by appointment from Wednesday 3rd October – Friday 26th October 2012

This October, HIT, an exciting mixed show with works by Emanuel Röhss and Kent Karlsson, will propel Swedish art to the centre of our consciousness during one of the most dynamic art months of the year. HIT will offer a rare opportunity for the public to see inside the exceptional 18th century Adam Brothers building that is the Swedish Ambassador’s residence. The exhibition will take advantage of the Residence’s prime balcony space on Portland Place, displaying sculptures by renowned Swedish artist Karlsson. His works will pose questions to those walking to Frieze Art Fair and create an air of intrigue.

As part of the Embassy of Sweden’s programme to raise awareness of Swedish arts and crafts, the exhibition, curated by Orion Contemporary, seeks to show the breadth of Swedish art. Carl Otto Werkelid, Counsellor for Cultural Affairs at The Embassy of Sweden says “Placing great Swedish contemporary art in the 18th century interiors of the Residence invites us to consider both the art and the architecture through fresh eyes. I hope that the juxtaposition of the well-established but innovative Karlsson with the young intense Röhss may lead to unusual discoveries.”

Orion has deliberately chosen artists who are new to London. Röhss (currently studying at the Royal College of Art, London) and Karlsson are from Gothenburg where they studied at the Valand School of Art. Gothenburg became known as Little London during its industrialisation in the 1800s when many Scottish and English businessmen moved there due to trade across the North Sea. HIT will bring a little piece of Sweden’s little London to our big London.

Both artists seek to indulge in an extrovert exploration of our current times. Röhss seeks to challenge our perception of painting through vivid colours and modern materials. He takes us into the unknown on a dark journey concerned with issues of energy, tension, language and imagination while looking at questions of context formed by medium specificity. Here, Röhss has interacted with the architectural design of the Residence; having become increasingly interested in site specificity, he looks at the mutual symbiosis of the work affecting the environment and of the environment affecting the work.

In contrast, Karlsson’s works are often the result of dreams or visions. His Rekonstruktion may at first be mistaken for part of the Residence’s furniture but, on closer inspection, visitors will be surprised to find things are not what they seem; the work recalls the Swedish TV test film of the 1960s that broadcast fish swimming in an aquarium.