“Svanesang,” or Swansong at Copenhagen’s Galleri Bo Bjerggaard is a collaborative exhibition with the Swedish Galleri Magnus Karlsson and the artists Tal R and Mamma Andersson, each represented by one of the galleries, respectively.
Painted over the course of a year, the works map out a correspondence between the two artists that progresses to the point where some paintings are indistinguishable, melding the two painters’ styles.
Some subjects are depicted by both artists and others are stand-alone works. Andersson’s more delicate, traditional style of painting next to Tal R’s more eye-popping work, which contains abstract elements, heightens both the differences and similarities in each artist’s techniques.
Founded on a love of skeletons and swans as subject matter, their reciprocal relationship carried them through the process of making the works for “Swansong.” The subject matter is a mix of park scenes, interiors, portraits, still lifes, and observations.
The quiet and sometimes melancholy sentiment of the paintings in “Swansong” create an overall atmosphere which, in light of the two artists’ communications during the making of these, is very moving.
It’s as though each work is a postcard, or a painted response to another. Fancying which might relate to which is at the pleasure of the viewer.
“Svanesang” will be on view at Galleri Bo Bjerggaard until October 22, 2016.