Matts Leiderstam
The Common. Lund City Art Collection
17 Apr - 17 May 2015
In his artistic practice the artist Matts Leiderstam is consistently asking questions about the conditions and context for art. Now he has been invited to take a closer look at the art collection of the City of Lund.
This collection of so-called ‘non-attached art’ comprises 4,500 works, mostly paintings and drawings but also some sculptures. While there are a few older works, most of the collection dates from after 1950, with a clear increase in acquisitions from the 1990s until today. The artworks were bought with public funds and therefore belong to the inhabitants of Lund. Since 1997 the city’s art collection has been the responsibility of Lunds konsthall, but in comparison with the exhibition programme its profile has been kept quite low.
This is what we would like to look into with the exhibition The Common were a number of artworks selected by Matts Leiderstam will be shown at Lunds konsthall together with the complete register of the collection. All the works are entered into a digital archive, continuously updated with data such as artist’s name, title, year, measurements, technique and current location in the city’s own offices and agencies. The exhibition focuses on how the artworks are being used, how they are installed in different workplaces across the city, in offices, schools and sometimes in public environments such as the libraries.
Throughout his career Matts Leiderstam has worked with museum collections, the history of painting and investigations into how images correspond to ways of living and reflect normative thinking. From a historical perspective, he wants to demonstrate how artworks and exhibitions influence economic and political conditions, and vice versa. By repeating, paraphrasing and copying details from art history he offers parallel readings of the past. Now he shares his view on the art collection of the City of Lund.
Matts Leiderstam was born in Gothenburg in 1956 and works in Stockholm and Malmö. He studied at the Valand Art Academy in Gothenburg in 1984–1989, followed the doctoral programme at the Malmö Art Academy in 2002–2006 and is Professor at the Malmö Art Academy since 2011.
On the upper floor of Lunds konsthall, we simultaneously present Work in Progress. 18 illustrators working for children and young people have meet for two days to inspire each other and create new networks. Lunds konsthall will present some of the material resulting from these two days, which provides a unique insight into the creative process. Work in Progress is a collaboration between Litteralund, The Creative Plot and Lunds konsthall.
This collection of so-called ‘non-attached art’ comprises 4,500 works, mostly paintings and drawings but also some sculptures. While there are a few older works, most of the collection dates from after 1950, with a clear increase in acquisitions from the 1990s until today. The artworks were bought with public funds and therefore belong to the inhabitants of Lund. Since 1997 the city’s art collection has been the responsibility of Lunds konsthall, but in comparison with the exhibition programme its profile has been kept quite low.
This is what we would like to look into with the exhibition The Common were a number of artworks selected by Matts Leiderstam will be shown at Lunds konsthall together with the complete register of the collection. All the works are entered into a digital archive, continuously updated with data such as artist’s name, title, year, measurements, technique and current location in the city’s own offices and agencies. The exhibition focuses on how the artworks are being used, how they are installed in different workplaces across the city, in offices, schools and sometimes in public environments such as the libraries.
Throughout his career Matts Leiderstam has worked with museum collections, the history of painting and investigations into how images correspond to ways of living and reflect normative thinking. From a historical perspective, he wants to demonstrate how artworks and exhibitions influence economic and political conditions, and vice versa. By repeating, paraphrasing and copying details from art history he offers parallel readings of the past. Now he shares his view on the art collection of the City of Lund.
Matts Leiderstam was born in Gothenburg in 1956 and works in Stockholm and Malmö. He studied at the Valand Art Academy in Gothenburg in 1984–1989, followed the doctoral programme at the Malmö Art Academy in 2002–2006 and is Professor at the Malmö Art Academy since 2011.
On the upper floor of Lunds konsthall, we simultaneously present Work in Progress. 18 illustrators working for children and young people have meet for two days to inspire each other and create new networks. Lunds konsthall will present some of the material resulting from these two days, which provides a unique insight into the creative process. Work in Progress is a collaboration between Litteralund, The Creative Plot and Lunds konsthall.