A Swedish Plateau

Charlotte Birnbaum is a polymath whose written histories of art and food have led to the evolution of plateaux.

Part utilitarian object, part artistic sculpture, Birnbaum’s assembled architectures quote the banquets of the Baroque and re-imagine them within a contemporary vernacular.

That vernacular is multiplied by Birnbaum’s delight in her bric-a-brac. The plateaux are ready-mades, ready to use. Yet beneath the collage, they whisper to the viewer, of the forgotten art of the table, and the breakfasts and lunches and dinners of yore.

To complement the installation, The Gallery of Everything has curated a series of spaces which pay homage to Swedish artists new and old.

Central to the display is Carl Frederick Hill (1849-1911), the renowned painter/draftsman, whose late sketches were authored as a tool for personal liberation. Ernst Josephson (1851-1906) also features, with material reflecting his investigations into Spiritualism. A singular painting by the masterful Bror Hjorth (1894-1968) illustrates the impact of popular painting on Swedish modernism.

Contemporary Swedish artists represented by Mamma Andersson (b 1962) and Jockum Nordström (b 1963), pioneers of the Swedish new wave with a mutual love for the folkloric. Also present Klara Kristalova (b 1967), a painter and ceramicist, whose figurative fairytales illustrate the quirks and ambiguities of our collective childhood.

For details and available works, please contact the gallery.