LEIF HOLMSTRAND
What the Others Knew
27 August – 20 September, 2009
PRESS RELEASE:
Johan Berggren Gallery is pleased to announce as it’s inaugural exhibition, a solo presentation
of Malmö based artist Leif Holmstrand (b. 1972). Holmstrand has exhibited widely in various
contexts during the past decade, earning a name for himself as both a performance artist and
a critically acclaimed visual artist. Not to forget his position as one of the leading poets of a
younger generation.
The current exhibition consists of two parts. The first being a large scale installation in the front
room of the gallery. The stage is set by a number of sculptural elements resulting in a tense and
somewhat claustrophobic environment contextualising ideas, motifs and techiques from an
earlier body of works. However the ongoing storytelling, emmanating from a performative
experience about body & gender, history & identity is boundary breaking. Whether inside of the
installation or viewing the room from the outside, past as well as a notion of now are
transcended, resulting in what could best be described as a timeless psychodrama.
In the second room of the gallery the setting is different. In the sparse and serene environment
we witness ”what the others knew”. An overlapping documentation of the actual making of the
installation ”What the Others Knew” has resulted in an intricate series of photographs where
pivotal moments in the making are paired with cerebral lines of thought. At a critical spot in the
room a sculptural self-portrait ”Hon ligger i delar” rests and accentuates the context and could be
seen as an epicentre around which the exhibition is evolving or ending.
An earlier exhibition in the spring 2009, at the gallery’s premises on Östra Tullgatan, was a
”mini-retrospective” and a testbed that saw mainly sculptural objects by Holmstrand from the
past ten years coming together for the first time. In the current exhibition Holmstrand’s overall
aim has been to move beyond the singular object as a brick in a narrative play. Instead Holm-
strand swaps the ideal of the isolated object for a more open ended, scenographic and
challenging environment. |

LEIF HOLMSTRAND
What the Others Knew, 2009
9 part sculptural installation
Dimension variable

LEIF HOLMSTRAND
What the Others Knew, 2009
9 part sculptural installation
Dimension variable

LEIF HOLMSTRAND
What the Others Knew, 2009
9 part sculptural installation
Dimension variable

LEIF HOLMSTRAND
Gester i soffa, 2009
Giclée print on paper
52 x 35.5 cm
LEIF HOLMSTRAND
Hängande hundtuggben, 2009
Giclée print on paper
32.5 x 24.5 cm
LEIF HOLMSTRAND
Självporträtt (Hon ligger i delar), 2009
Mannequin doll, cloth, ties, gloves
119 x 65 x 37 cm
LEIF HOLMSTRAND
Skrev med mera, 2009
Giclée print on paper
42.5 x 32 cm

LEIF HOLMSTRAND
Gester och tyg, 2009
Giclée print on paper
42.5 x 32 cm
LEIF HOLMSTRAND
Halvdold profil, 2009
Giclée print on paper
32.5 x 24.5 cm
LEIF HOLMSTRAND
Dubbla lager hängande hundtuggben, 2009
Giclée print on paper
42.5 x 32.5 cm
LEIF HOLMSTRAND
Gester i soffa, 2009
Giclée print on paper
52 x 35.5 cm

LEIF HOLMSTRAND
Självporträtt (Hon ligger i delar), 2009
Mannequin doll, cloth, ties, gloves
119 x 65 x 37 cm
|