Opening: Hammarkullen Art Gallery – Björnen Sover & There, There

There, There by Leonardo Taddei, a visual and text-based reflection on childhood, home, and belonging, is shown together with Björnen sover by Hilma Hedin and Isak Uitto, where play and camera-less photography are used as a method to investigate identity and body.

At the center of Leonardo Taddei’s work There, There is a letter addressed to someone with whom the author shared their childhood: a personal reflection that opens up for broader thoughts about home, belonging, and the search for roots. In interaction with suggestive images, a double dialogue is formed between text and visual expression, which leads the viewer on a poetic, visual journey.

The photographs move away from urban landscapes and towards a more original, enchanted world — in a search for an Arcadian place where living beings coexist in harmony, and where nature is generous and no longer subjugated.

Even though the story is fictional in form, it reflects a deeper longing that begins in the intimate sphere of the home and extends out towards the earth as our common, collective home.

Björnen sover is a well-known Swedish game and children’s song. The game involves the participants appointing a person to act as a bear. The person crouches on the floor and covers their eyes. The participants walk in a circle around the person holding each other’s hands while singing the song. When the song ends, the bear wakes up and starts chasing the other participants. The person who is caught first acts as the bear the next round, or is out of the game.

To play is to interact with others, explore social games and norms. In their work with Björnen sover, the artists Hilma Hedin and Isak Uitto have used play as a method to see themselves from new perspectives. The darkroom has been an important part of the work. It is a place where the physical and tactile are central, but also a place where you can explore the unpredictable. The duo turned to camera-less photography and, with the help of photograms, sought a free and random relationship with the photographic medium.

The artist duo Hedin & Uitto was created in connection with the publication 30 fotogram. Together they run the publishing house Express Publications, which focuses on artistic publications in smaller editions. The duo uses play as a method and, with the help of camera-less photography, they seek a free and random relationship with the photographic medium.

Leonardo Taddei is an artist who moves freely between analog and digital photography, video, and text. His artistic expression is closely linked to play, where the act of photographing itself becomes part of creating relationships.”

The exhibition is a collaboration with Hammarkullen Art Gallery and is presented during GIBCA extended.

Hammarkullen Art Gallery is located in Gothenburg’s only underground tram stop. It is perhaps therefore one of Sweden’s most visited art galleries. Lines 4, 8 and 9 run there. Stop for a minute and see the art before you move on!

Hammarkullen Art Gallery is run by Kulturhuset Blå Stället in Angered in consultation with the Hammarkullen Art Gallery Association. Hammarkullen Art Gallery has the ambition to become a meeting place for local and international art and a place for meetings and conversations about society and art.