Swedish artist Sigrid Sandström brings her contemplative exhibition "Dusk" to Perrotin Tokyo, marking her second solo show with the gallery. The exhibition, running from January 17 to March 22, 2025, presents a collection of works that explore the liminal space between light and shadow, offering a profound meditation on the nature of illumination and darkness.
Sigrid Sandstr.m, Weather (Fall) (Detail), 2024. Acrylic on canvas, Unframed : 80 x 80 cm | 31 1/2 x 31 1/2 inches
Courtesy of the artist and Perrotin.
Sandström's relationship with dusk extends beyond mere temporal boundaries. Shaped by her formative years in the Nordic wilderness, where her family's cabin stood on roadless land without modern amenities, she developed a deep appreciation for the nuanced interplay between light and shadow. This early experience of living by candlelight and kerosene lamps continues to influence her artistic sensibility, creating works that pulse with a subtle, ethereal quality.
The exhibition's centerpiece, "Borealis" (2024), exemplifies Sandström's masterful approach to duality. This double-sided painting, installed in the gallery's window, presents different experiences from exterior and interior viewpoints. From outside, viewers encounter vibrant brushstrokes and rich hues infused with warmth, while the interior view reveals a ghostlike impression that challenges conventional perception. This deliberate play with visibility resonates with the Shinto concept of Yami, emphasizing the mysterious aspects of nature.
Sigrid Sandstr.m, Borealis, 2024. Acrylic on canvas, Unframed : 100 x 100 cm | 39 3/8 x 39 3/8 inches.
Courtesy of the artist and Perrotin.
Sigrid Sandstr.m, Borealis (Verso), 2024. Acrylic on canvas, Unframed : 100 x 100 cm | 39 3/8 x 39 3/8 inches.
Courtesy of the artist and Perrotin.
Sandström's artistic technique merges various methods, including printmaking, paint stains, and arcing brushstrokes, occasionally incorporating oil sticks to create works of remarkable fluidity. In pieces such as "Amnesia" (2024), she employs her signature "verso" technique, using the canvas's reverse side as a diffused screen, resulting in layered works that speak to memory and presence rather than stark reality.
The exhibition's palette reflects both environmental and emotional landscapes. "Scarlet Flight" (2024) captures the muted light of winter, punctuated by brief flashes of warmth in scarlet and ochre. The increasingly monochromatic works, particularly "Dusk" (2024) and "Distance in Blue" (2024), showcase a transition from earlier, more vibrant pieces to cool, contemplative blues reminiscent of Russian painter Nicholas Roerich's landscapes.
During the creation of these works, Sandström found resonance with Jun'ichirō Tanizaki's 1933 essay "In Praise of Shadows." The Japanese author's exploration of shadow aesthetics in traditional architecture parallels Sandström's artistic investigation of how brightness simultaneously illuminates and erases. Her paintings, exhibited during Tokyo's darker winter months, engage with dusk as both a physical phenomenon and a metaphor for broader political, environmental, and emotional transitions.
The works in "Dusk" speak to each other like a choreographed ensemble, creating an environment where shadows unify rather than obscure. Through this exhibition, Sandström invites viewers to reconsider darkness not as an absence, but as a generative space where depth and tenderness emerge from the shadows.
Sigrid Sandström: "Dusk"
Dates: January 17 - March 22, 2025
Location: Perrotin Tokyo
Hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 11:00 AM - 7:00 PM
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