Truth Is Dead Exhibition At Fotografiska

Truth Is Dead Exhibition At Fotografiska

This week I took a visiting friend to Fotografiska museum for her birthday dinner and a look at their new exhibitions. I will write about my visit to their wonderful restaurant in a coming article. But, as I just wrote about another restaurant in my last article, I thought I would start with the exhibition first. They have three ongoing exhibitions, but we concentrated ourselves on "Truth is Dead" by Alison Jackson (showing until May 19th.

"Truth is Dead" is an evocative and humorous, sometimes dark, look at celebrity culture. Jackson uses celebrity look-alikes posing in situations, which may seem outlandish at times but completely plausible at the same time... which says something about celebrity culture these days. I mean we have a former reality star as the president of the US and one of the most famous women in the world is known for, well, her large bottom. Our royals and politicians become celebrities and our celebrities become royals and politicians.

Many of the images push the boundaries of good taste, which adds to the humor, though I will admit that this exhibition might not be for everyone. In fact, while a couple of photos in this article might seem questionable to you... I did choose the more "family friendly" ones. Don't misunderstand me, they are more PG 13 (for light nudity and sexual situations) than R rated.

The look alikes Jackson uses are often spot on so that we found ourselves arguing which ones were real or not. We also found ourselves giggling and sometimes laughing out loud at the situations she photographed these celebrities in... Bragelina picking out babies, Prince William using a breastfeeding apparatus, Marilyn and JFK in an embrace, Kanye and Kim in the delivery room and Simon Cowell getting a "Brazilian". It truly is a devilish look at how we revere famous people these days.

Fotografiska is located on the northern waterfront of Södermalm, just a 15-20 minute walk from the Hotel Rival. The closest subway/bus station is Slussen (10 minute walk from the museum). One extra special aspect of Fotografiska is their generous opening hours, closing at 11pm on Sun-Wed and 1am on Thurs-Sat. They also have a café and award-winning restaurant on the top floor with views of the harbor... well worth a visit. I am heading off on a work trip but will write an article about the restaurant upon my return.

They are doing some major construction in the Slussen area. But just follow the signs, like the one above, to get to Fotografiska.

Read More

Spring Art Exhibitions 2019

Spring Art Exhibitions 2019

"Truth is Dead" at Fotografiska

I suppose that spring started a few weeks ago, but here we go! If you are coming here in the coming weeks, perhaps for the Easter holidays or just a weekend get-a-away, Stockholm has a wide variety of musuems to choose from if you are feeling culturally inclined! If history is your thing, we have many museums and attractions that concentrate on history and our royal family. More interested in art and design? Here are the main art museums and their exhibitions this coming season:

• Fotografiska (photography)- the two main spring exhibitions are "All Over" by Jesper Waldersten (until June 9th) and "Truth is Dead" by Alison Jackson (until May 19th). Two smaller exhibitions are coming as well... "Without You I am Weightless" by Jessica Silversaga (April 12th to June 6th) and "Made in Bangladesh" by Rahul Talukder (April 11th to June 3rd). 
• National (classic & fine art, design)- besides their extensive permanent collection of classic art and design, they do have temporary ongoing exhibitions, like "The Danish Golden Age" (until July 21st) and "Finn Juhl: Architectural Furniture Designer" (until September 22nd). 

  

  At the National Museum: Egyptian chair, Finn Juhl, 1949. Ordrupgaard, Copenhagen.
  Photographer: Anders Sune Berg

• Moderna (modern art)- they have quite a few ongoing and upcoming exhibitions, including "Riverboat Song" by Jordan Wolfson (until Sept 1st), "The Great Exhibition" by Gilbert & George (until May 12th) and the upcoming "Echo" by Sharon Hayes (April 13th to August 11th). Don't miss a visit to their permanent collection! 
• ArkDes (architecture & design)- besides their permanent exhibit on architecture in Sweden, this season they will also have "The Future Starts Here" (until August 4th) and "Architecture Projects: Skeppsbron" (April 26th to June 9th). 

  

  Moderna Museet Stockholm, exterior, summer © Photo: Moderna Museet/Åsa Lundén

• Millesgården (sculpture & art)- most people come to visit the beautiful sculpture gardens featuring the work of Carl Milles, but they also have a gallery with temporary exhibitions.The current exhibition is "Back to Paradise - Masterpieces of Expressionism" (until June 9th). 
• Kulturhuset (mixed art)- in celebration of the 100th anniversary when women receievd the right to vote in Sweden they have an exhibition called "The Women in the Neighborhood" (until August 11th) looking at the women who lived in the area 100 years ago. 
• Thielska Galleriet (Scandinavian fine art)- Their current exhibition is "The Job Sisters: ceramics and textiles, a passion for prints and floral art" (until June 2nd). One of the highlights of this museum is their permanent collection of the works of Scandinavian artists like Anders Zorn, Carl Larsson, Edvard Munch and more. 
• Prins Eugens Waldemarsudde (Scandinavian fine art)-  there are quite a few ongoing & upcoming exhibitions, like the work of photographer Yanan Li, painter Björn Wessman and an exhibition looking at the artist colony Grez-sur-Loing (featuring 80 pieces of art from a variety of artists. See link above for more gosip and dates. 

  

  Upcoming exhibition at Artipelag
  Wallplate from the series “Tema e Variazioni”, from the 1950s up to today. Porcelain.
  Photo by Fornasetti

• Artipelag (art in archipelago setting)- a little bit outside of the city, but in beautiful surroundings. They have extended their current exhibition "Margiela, the Hermès Years" until April 28th. After a brief rehanging period and showing of the winner of the Fredrik Roos stipendium, they will start with their next big exhibition: "Inside Out Outside In" by Piero Fornasetti (opens June 14th). 
• Liljevalchs (contemporary art)- several upcoming exhibitions. There is the popular Market Art Fair on April 12th to 14th, followed by Jan Håfström (April 26th to May 12th) and Anders Petersen - Stockholm (opens May 17th). 
• Bonniers Konshall (contemporary art)- this season they will be showing Torbjörn Rödland "Fifth Honeymoon" (until June 2nd) and "Artists' Film International" (until June 16th) among others... 
• Sven-Harry's Konstmuseum (mixed art)- their current exhibition is "Here's Looking at You", a unique collection of iconic photographs from the Hasselblad Foundation's Collection (until May 19th). 

  

  Coming to Liljevalchs. "Skeppsbron, New Year's Eve 2016"
  by Anders Petersen. 

There are several other smaller art museums. If you are staying at the child-friendly attractions as well. And don't forget a visit to ABBA the Museum to learn all about Sweden's #1 pop export! 

Read More

Restaurant At Fotografiska

Restaurant At Fotografiska

In my last article, I wrote about the new "Truth is Dead" exhibition at the museum White Guide.

Open kitchen

It is important to note that Fotografiska goes all out in incorporating the restaurant with the museum so that the museum has extended opening hours to coincide with the restaurant's hours... closing at 11pm on Sundays through Wednesdays and 1am on Thursdays through Saturdays. This means you can easily combine a visit to the exhibitions with dinner and/or drinks. Feels very civilized. The restaurant is located on the top floor of the museum, with great views of the harbor, so maybe take in one exhibition on the way to dinner and another on the way home?

First course

The philosophy of the restaurant is sustainable dining with a major focus on fruits and vegetables, using only the freshest seasonable, organic products. They turn the tables on the traditional sajian concept where vegetables come as side dishes. At Fotografiska, you choose (if you wish) meat/fish as a side dish. When we dined there last week, both my friend and I did choose meat as a side dish though felt, in the end, that it really wasn't necessary. We would have been easily satisfied if we had just stuck to the plant based dishes. However, it is always good with the option for our dedicated carnivores out there!

Second course

There are set three, five and eight course menus to choose from or else you can choose dishes from an a la carte sajian and mix and match the dishes as you desire. My friend and I did end up choosing the set three-course dinner, adding a meat dish each. The first course was potatoes prepared three ways with smoked sour cream, burnt butter and bleak roe. The second course was long-baked beetroot with potato puré and kuman and, finally, for dessert we were served "last season's" berries with emmer wheat, salted caramel and goat milk sherbet. The whole meal was delicious, beautifully presented and creatively interesting.

Dessert

During the daytime, there is a great café adjacent to the restaurant, which is perfect for lunch or just a coffee and snack. They also serve a very popular brunch on the weekends! Speaking of popular... booking a table in advance for dinner is highly recommended, as they are generally fully booked most evenings. You can book your table on their website and you can also choose the option of booking a visit to the exhibitions (at a discounted price) along with your table. Fotografiska is located on the northern waterfront of Södermalm, just a 15-20 minute walk from the Hotel Rival. They are doing some major construction in the Slussen area, but just follow the signs to get to Fotografiska. The closest subway/bus station is Slussen (10 minute walk from the museum).

Watching the ferries glide by on their way out to the Baltic

Click here for other restaurant recommendations and click here for other vegetarian restaurants in Stockholm.

Read More