MARKET ART FAIR & STOCKHOLM ART WEEK

The 13th edition of Market Art Fair takes place this week between April 12th-15th in Stockholm, Sweden at the Liljevalchs Konsthall on the Royal Djurgården. The fair aims to showcase emerging artists in the Scandinavian art scene, featuring 35 galleries from eight different Nordic cities. Along with these exhibits, the fair also hosts talks and projects throughout the weekend.

Image courtesy of Market Art Fair

Market Art Fair was founded in 2006 by galleries representing artists from Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Iceland. The Selection Committee - fronted by the founding director of the Tate Modern, Lars Nittve, since 2017 - invites galleries from all the Nordic countries to apply to the fair, and accepts those which they believe best represent the contemporary Nordic art world.  Over the years, the fair has gained attention from leading art institutions, museums, and spaces in Stockholm, and it is now the centre of Stockholm Art Week, which “aims to promote the visual arts to a wider audience and showcase Sweden as a global art destination.”

While Scandinavian artists have begun gaining considerable international recognition recently, the scene itself still shares a common aesthetic that makes it uniquely Nordic and sets it apart from the rest of the art world. Market Art Fair features a cohesive group of galleries that display this shared aesthetic, characterized by themes of nature and light filtered through a minimalist lens. This focus on light and land can be seen in works by artists like Liva Isakson Lundin - represented by Wetterling Gallery at this year’s fair - who creates sculpture installations that are defined not only by the works themselves, but also by the rooms in which they are installed, so that the pieces and their surroundings form a unified work. Regardless of the medium, however, the beauty in the Nordic art scene can be seen by how the works complement one another through the use of similar design elements, like minimalist colors (whites, beiges, wood, etc.) and the subject matter (the exaggerated natural lighting, or lack thereof, in the Nordic countries) utilized by the artists. 

Since its inception, Market Art Fair has been a great meeting ground for Scandinavian artists, art collectors, and those interested in the art scene. As it has grown, it has gained more international attention and is proving to be the hub for galleries representing Nordic artists all over the globe.

Words by Nick Nicewonder