Specialist Karin Aringer with Marie-Louise Ekman's ”Sömnen II” and Karl Norin's ”Freshwater, steak and wine”.

Hi Karin Aringer, expert contemporary art and photography at Bukowskis!

The catalogue for this spring’s dynamic and colorful hammer auction with contemporary art is here: Contemporary Art & Design. The selection is carefully curated and hand picked by Bukowskis art experts to present an unique selection of contemporary art, prints, photography and sculpture. We have spoken to Bukowskis art specialist in contemporary art and photography, Karin Aringer, about the coming hammer auction that takes place April 19th.

Which are your personal favorites among the art work at Contemporary Art & Design?

188. JR, "28 millimètres, Portrait of a Generation, Ladj Ly", 2004
Its always extra fun to sell something that hasn’t been figuring at the Swedish auction market before. The anonymous artist called JR is born in 1983 in France, and right now his art is being seen and heard everywhere. JR was nominated for an Oscar for his documentary ”Faces Places” (2017) and he also got a lot of attention for his installation at The Armory Show in March. JR use black and white photographs, sometimes his own and sometimes historical motives. These are enlarged into big scale and mounted on to public places, in the same way graffiti artists traditionally have been working. Except from that he also uses videos, books and social media to spread his political message and create opinion. JR is a true contemporary artist in all ways possible.

178. PETER JOHANSSON, ”Self-portrait in red", 2012.
The more I read about this art work, the more sad I become having missed the exhibition ”Johansson vs Zorn” in Mora 2012/2013. The showdown in Dalarna, its history and aesthetic have been a reappearing theme in Peter Johansson’s artistry. In four years he worked with the projekt that resulted in a book and an exhibition at the Zorn museum where he reconstructed a totalt of ten photographs by Zorn, but put himself in the picture, instead of Zorn in the lead. The exhibition also viewed several nude pictures painted by Zorn, original paintings for millions of Swedish crowns, where the art work was extracted from its original frames and put into new copies painted by Johansson’s signature color red. I believe the project is so well put together, humorous and brave – to challenge a national master painter in that certain way, its not what many others would dare to do.

176. ESKO MÄNNIKKÖ, "Kuivaniemi", 1994.
My heart sympathize for the man in Esko Männikkö’s photography. The photo belongs to Männikkö's break-through serie of photos from the early 1990s called ”Kuivaniemi”, which are photographs of bachelors in North of Finland. The photographer has certainly captured the feeling of loneliness in this picture, which is enhanced by the lightning and the thick frame that makes him seem more lonely and isolated.

106. NIKI DE SAINT PHALLE,"La Tempérance".
Niki de Saint Phalle is an icon, I believe she is – as a person, as well as her art – very interesting and inspiring. The art is extra everything – color, shape, language, movement, joy, pain all in the same time. You have most certainly seen her sculptures in front of Moderna Museet at Skeppsholmen and heard about the legendary exhibition called ”Hon – en katedral” in where she participated with a gigantic NANA with an exhibition inside.

185. ELLEN VON UNWERTH, "Naomi Campbell, from the Azzedine Alaïa Spring/Summer Campaign, 1991".
Ellen von Unwerth is the photo model that became photographer. She takes humorous, lively and sexy pictures of her ex colleagues and friends. She really seems to love her job and she has been doing a lot of fun things, everything from iconic commercials for e.g. Guess to music videos and record covers. There are certain connections to Helmut Newton’s world but in her photographs the models personality shines through. There is another chemistry between the photo model and the photographer.

If I would like to start collecting contemporary art, what should I have in mind?
It depends on your ambitions and budget, however I have two hands-on tips:
1. Work on paper, like drawings, aquarelles, collage and prints, normally costs less than e.g. an oil painting on canvas. If you have found an artists who’s work you like, it can be a good start with a purchase of a paper work from the artist, the advantage is that the paper work often has a lower price and maybe its easier to place it in a home environment rather than a huge painting, installation or a sculpture.
2. If you are interested in buying photography I would recommend Swedish photography due to its very affordable in comparison to quality. Its often photographs taken with an analog camera, developed in dark room (often by the photographer him/herself) – a craftsmanship which not that many can handle today. Pictures developed by hand will never get look exactly alike, therefore developing provides a vividly impression that I appreciate. Names to remember are Lennart Olson, Hans Hammarskiöld and Hans Gedda.

What is it that make contemporary art so interesting for you?
Contemporary art describes the time we live in and the society around us, so there are many different ways to extract it, which for me is very interesting. The contemporary art doesn’t follow any rules and on top of that there are a large number of techniques and approaches for the artists to utilize. Personally I feel more strongly for contemporary art and I have a stronger connection to that kind of aesthetic and forms of expression, rather than a traditional master painting or an art work of a religious motive. That is why art work from the 1960s and forward gives me much more an aha-experience.

CONTEMPORARY ART & DESIGN
Viewing 14 – 18 April at Bukowskis, Berzelii Park 1, Stockholm. Mon–Fri 11AM–6PM, Sat–Sun kl 11AM–5PM. Sale 19 April start 5 PM.

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