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Colour Fictions

Colour FictionsFrom the Museum Collection

    Artwork: KG Nilson, Among the living and dead, 2002 - gouache
    KG Nilson, Among the living and dead, 2002

    The Nordic Watercolour Museum’s collection follows two clear themes: contemporary Nordic art, and visual storytelling in picture books and comics. But where is the line between these art forms?

    A scene depicted visually can communicate a course of events, but the person viewing it can also add their own story. A motif can lead the observer to sources beyond its boundaries, to other works that carry stories, but it can also take them straight to an idea from the artist themself.

    Inspired by the Beyond the Lines exhibition, focusing on the picture book, this spring’s selection from the museum’s collection explores pictorial narrative. Is it true to say that all images tell a story? And if so, how is the narrative in, say, a pictorial motif different from an abstract?

    Participating artists: Vanessa Baird, Sigga Björg Sigurðardóttir, Ann-Mari Didoff, Cecilia Edefalk, Georg Guðni Hauksson, Kati Immonen, Martin Jacobson, KG Nilson, Julie Nord, Guðmundur Thoroddsen and Eva Vilne


    About the exhibition

    Beyond the Lines

    The exhibition shows works by three picture book makers: Anna Höglund, Pija Lindenbaum and Ida Sundin Asp. Picture books often have a dual audience. The typical reading situation is where a child listens to an adult reading out loud, perhaps at bedtime. They are both looking at the image, but do they see the same thing?

    Read more about the exhibition
    Pija Lindenbaum, from the picture book Vitvivan och Gullsippan. Published by Lilla Piratförlaget in 2021
    Pija Lindenbaum, from the picture book Vitvivan och Gullsippan. Published by Lilla Piratförlaget in 2021