Fredrik Söderberg - Milliken Gallery

Fredrik Söderberg
We pray to the Sun and Hail the Moon
Opening March 18th 17.00 - 20.00
Exhibition until April 30, 2010
In his third solo exhibition at the gallery, Fredrik Söderberg paints meticulous and rich water color paintings originating from
the darker side of our common heritage generically called the occult. While previous exhibitions had the artist exploring cult
and ritual such as modernism, Swedish painter Carl Larsson, and Black Magic practice, this show adds as Ronald Jones writes a
“sacred atlas of [Söderberg’s] search for an answer to life’s fundamental question: What happens after death?” Lavish sigils
merge with a practice of painting a la Austin Osman Spare whose automatic drawings and relationship to magic have
influenced the artist. The larger paintings are meditations that pay homage to Hermetic philosophies with Crowley-like
panache that address how one can affect the physical realm by having contact with the transcendental and metaphysical
through Alchemy, Astrology and Theurgy.
Elisabeth Millqvist writes in her catalogue text for the Magasin 3 exhibition Dreams, Desires, and Fantasies, 2008 that
compares the artist and Swedish icon Carl Larsson, “Söderberg belongs to a group of artists whose work lives parallel to the art
scene’s preoccupation with critical theory and who through drawing and painting create personal fantasy worlds and dissolve
the boundries between history and myth.” Art critique does exist in the work as a sidebar, but the focus on larger existential
issues has always interested Söderberg more than the context of the art institution.
Fredrik Söderberg graduated from Konstfack School of Art, Stockholm in 2000. He has had selected solo shows at Schittraum,
Cologne Germany, 2008 and Galleri Brandstrup Norway, 2007. The artist has exhibited with Carl Larsson in Dreams, Desires,
and Fantasies, 2008 curated by Elisabeth Millqvist, Magasin 3, 2008; Jekyll Island curated by Eric Parker and Max Henry,
Honor Fraser, Los Angeles, 2008 and Rental Gallery, New York, 2008. Upcoming exhibitions include Nordic Delight curated by
Sinziana Ravini for the Swedish Institute in Paris, September 2010.
Also, feel free to read the essay by Ronald Jones that accompanies this exhibition.
For further information please contact Milliken Gallery.
Fay çe que vouldras.
However, we know that in our desire and others' expectations after some time will be a general
reformation of both divine and human things. For, before sunrise, the sky illuminated by the dawn light.
Fama Fraternitatis, 1614
Above all, one must soberly accept Fredrik Söderberg’s new paintings as
the sacred atlas of his spiritual search for an answer to life’s fundamental
question: “What happens after death?” In Judaism, Christianity and Islam the
divine resurrection of human beings by means of a spiritual awakening and
transformation into a life after death, is a central doctrine. And while Söderberg
shares this spiritual optimism with conventional religions, he finds his comfort
within the realm of the esoteric and occult, especially from the teachings and
prophecies of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a complex fusion of
teaching and ritual magickal practice that brought together Kabalistic cosmology,
the Rosicrucian initiation system, ritual magick, Egyptology, astrology, tarot, and
various other occult lineages. To stare into his paintings therefore, is to see the
hand of a seeker, a spiritual artist at work, as much as it is to gaze into Luca
Signorelli’s Resurrection of the Flesh, 1499-1502. In Symbols and Tools, 2009
we see a complex array of iconography including the Rose Cross Lamen, but far
from an inert visual inventory, the iconography has the spiritual power to sink
Söderberg into his occult trance life as he paints them. In this painting, as well as
others like Meditation 7, 2009, the symbols of the Golden Dawn literally
instrumentalize his spiritual search.
Of course the Golden Dawn has its own history around personalities like
Aleister Crowley, the infamous occultist, drug addict, social provocateur, and
sexual libertine who the British press demonized as “the wickedest man in the
world,” but this doesn’t rub off on Söderberg. He makes solemn claims for his art
spawning alternative experiences, especially where the mysteries of life are
concerned. In this sense Söderberg’s art discovers new spiritual vistas, while
being earnest, proactive, pre-scientific, and post-critical. His art is allergic to
irony. Seeing beyond his untethered life, the heart of Crowley's writing tells us
True Will is our essential spiritual core as we move from a relatively
unenlightened state to a state of pure selfhood. "Do what thou wilt" was Crowley’s
moral and spiritual compass, yet he never meant it to refer to the outer emotional
self, but rather to the sacred core of personal divinity. His conception of God was
as a force within oneself. Söderberg has found faith in these basic tenets, and his
art thus becomes the face to his search for spiritually. Why not? Do you have a
better alternative?
Ronald Jones
Stockholm
Fredrik Sörderberg (SE) Selected images courtesy Milliken Gallery
Installation view, We pray to the Sun and Hail the Moon, 2010. Watercolor on paper, variable size
Fredrik Sörderberg (SE) Selected images courtesy Milliken Gallery
Installation view, We pray to the Sun and Hail the Moon, 2010. Watercolor on paper, variable size
Fredrik Sörderberg (SE) Selected images courtesy Milliken Gallery
Installation view, We pray to the Sun and Hail the Moon, 2010. Watercolor on paper, variable size
Fredrik Sörderberg (SE) Selected images courtesy Milliken Gallery
Installation view, We pray to the Sun and Hail the Moon, 2010. Watercolor on paper, variable size
Fredrik Sörderberg (SE) Selected images courtesy Milliken Gallery
Konx Om Pax, 2011. Watercolor on paper, 76 x 56 cm
Fredrik Sörderberg (SE) Selected images courtesy Milliken Gallery
A Journey to the Center of the Earth, 2011. Watercolor and leaf gold on paper, 75 x 56 cm
Fredrik Sörderberg (SE) Selected images courtesy Milliken Gallery
Rosecross Portrait, 2011. Watercolor and leaf gold on paper, 76 x 56 cm
Fredrik Sörderberg (SE) Selected images courtesy Milliken Gallery
Serpent, 2011. Watercolor and leaf gold on paper, 45 x 34 cm
Fredrik Sörderberg (SE) Selected images courtesy Milliken Gallery
The Anatomy of Sexuality IV-Franz von Bayrons Dream, 2010. Watercolor on paper, 160 x 110 cm
Fredrik Sörderberg (SE) Selected images courtesy Milliken Gallery
AOS- The Black Brother, 2010. Watercolor on paper, 112 x 130 cm, with frame: 125 x 175 cm
Fredrik Sörderberg (SE) Selected images courtesy Milliken Gallery
We Pray to the Sun and Hail the Moon, 2010. Watercolor on paper, 54 x 36 cm, with frame: 68 x 52 cm
Fredrik Sörderberg (SE) Selected images courtesy Milliken Gallery
Alexander Sanders, 2009. Watercolor on paper, 20 x 26 cm
Fredrik Sörderberg (SE) Selected images courtesy Milliken Gallery
AOS-London 1956, 2009. Watercolor on paper, 55 x 74 cm
Fredrik Sörderberg (SE) Selected images courtesy Milliken Gallery
Sorcery, 2009. Watercolor on paper, 36 x 48 cm
Fredrik Sörderberg (SE) Selected images courtesy Milliken Gallery
Avebury III, 2009. Watercolor on paper, 33 x 25 cm
Fredrik Sörderberg (SE) Selected images courtesy Milliken Gallery
Stone Grave, 2009. Watercolor on paper, In frame: 84 x 71 cm
Fredrik Sörderberg (SE) Selected images courtesy Milliken Gallery
The Anatomy Sexuality I, 2008. Watercolor on paper, 97 x 147 cm, with frame: 102 x 173 cm
Fredrik Sörderberg (SE) Selected images courtesy Milliken Gallery
The Begining of Magick II, 2008. Watercolor on paper, 97 x 148 cm, with frame: 122 x 173 cm
Fredrik Sörderberg (SE) Selected images courtesy Milliken Gallery
The Temple, 2008. Watercolor on paper, 32 x 43 cm, with frame: 46 x 56 cm
Fredrik Sörderberg (SE) Selected images courtesy Milliken Gallery
Chimera, 2008. Watercolor on 650g paper, 75 x 105 cm.
Frieze Magazine | Shows | Fredrik Söderberg
4/28/10 1:02 PM
Fredrik Söderberg
About this review
Milliken Gallery , Stockholm, Sweden
Published on 20/04/10
By Jacquelyn Davis
This striking collection of Fredrik Söderberg’s watercolour
paintings, entitled ‘We Pray to the Sun and Hail the Moon’,
may inspire engaged viewers to question their relationship
with infinity and perhaps even dissuade some from
swallowing the world’s investment with spiritual redemption
or continuing to embrace a detached narcissism. Söderberg’s
charm lies in his explorative mapping of self-reflective
spiritualisms, as well as in his ability to create provocative
microcosms inspired by our own spheres – even if his works
may appear cryptic to some.
Summer Solstice (2008)
Back to the main site
Mandragora (2009)
Linked to the transcendental teachings of the Hermetic
Order of the Golden Dawn and Aleister Crowley’s
philosophies on ceremonial magic and the occult, these
unearthed energies are a fresh discovery for those who find
http://www.frieze.com/shows/print_review/fredrik_soederberg/
Page 1 of 3
Frieze Magazine | Shows | Fredrik Söderberg
4/28/10 1:02 PM
unearthed energies are a fresh discovery for those who find
themselves removed from any form of spiritualism. Much
like Crowley’s wide array of eclectic interests, Söderberg’s
paintings investigate the unknown from diverse angles. At
first glance, rich watercolours such as Avebury (2009)
appear to be timeless landscapes when they are actually
secular perspectives focused on the geographies of
meditation and transformation. Others, such as Summer
Solstice (2008) and The Beginning of Magick II (2008), are
extreme in their quest to enlighten the viewer about the
pervasive foundation fuelling the occult. These paintings
visually interpret hierarchical connections between energy
and power through balanced geometries and the recurring
presence of cosmic forces – a massive sun or seductive moon
– reminding one of a secret Masonic history or ancient
Egyptian influences.
Some of Söderberg’s paintings appear to be more
preoccupied with a mysterious means to a justifiable
spirituality rather than any specific end. In Mandragora
(2009), the artist painted a solitary mandrake root
suspended, presented as an object worthy of further
examination. For the mandrake root is directly associated
with occult practices, facilitating rituals and harbouring
mythologies related to its own hallucinogenic powers and
aphrodisiacal abilities. In Ritual II (2009), time has stopped
and the moment of the sacrificial act – whether it is sinister
or harmless – becomes the true focal point. Viewers may find
themselves questioning the border between psychosexual
effrontery and pre-emptive violence.
http://www.frieze.com/shows/print_review/fredrik_soederberg/
Page 2 of 3
Frieze Magazine | Shows | Fredrik Söderberg
4/28/10 1:02 PM
Such explorations into the occult remain appealing because
this cosmic voyage, in part, embodies and preserves the core
existential concepts of modern works such as Albert Camus’
The Rebel (1956), in which he writes, ‘But from the moment
when a movement of rebellion begins, suffering is seen as a
collective experience. Therefore the first progressive step for
a mind overwhelmed by the strangeness of things is to realize
that this feeling of strangeness is shared with all men and
that human reality, in its entirety, suffers from the distance
which separates it from the rest of the universe … I rebel –
therefore we exist.’ Söderberg cultivates this singular feeling
of strangeness that we collectively experience as human
beings. Placing emphasis on cultural faux-pas and exception,
‘We Pray to the Sun and Hail the Moon’ exhibits the
contradictory influences of cultural artefacts versus the
fantastic – but not as they were meant to be initially
consumed. Herein lies the beauty of representation. The
freedom to rebel is often followed by delightful confusion;
Söderberg has managed to instigate both aforementioned
sentiments, clearing a trail for the unpredictable. ‘He makes
solemn claims for his art spawning alternative experiences,’
comments Ronald Jones in an accompanying exhibition
essay, ‘especially where the mysteries of life are concerned.
In this sense Söderberg’s art discovers new spiritual vistas,
while being earnest, proactive, pre-scientific, and postcritical. His art is allergic to irony.’ Perhaps there is hope for
the diligent and searching after all.
Jacquelyn Davis
Frieze
3-4 Hardwick Street, London EC1R 4RB, 020 7833 7270
http://www.frieze.com/shows/print_review/fredrik_soederberg/
Page 3 of 3
Omkonst - Fredrik Söderberg, Milliken Gallery och Magasin 3
2008-04-23 15.14
www.omkonst.com:
Fantasy, ockult och Carl Larsson
Fredrik Söderberg, Milliken Gallery 10/4 - 18/5 och Magasin 3, Stockholm, 11/4 - 8/6 2008
Text: Björn Larsson
På Milliken Gallery och på Magasin 3 blandar Fredrik Söderberg
inslag från österländsk mystik och religion, fornnordisk sagoromantik,
esoterisk modernism och hårdrock med ockulta inslag; alltsammans
utfört i formspråk hämtade från Black Sabbath-skivomslag, tarotkort,
ordensheraldik, Picassos Guernica och tidningsillustrationer ifrån 70–talet
av Jane Bark och Hans Arnold.
På Magasin 3 har curatorn Elisabeth Millqvist tillsammans med
konstnären inventerat Nationalmuseums och Göteborgs Konstmuseums
samlingar i jakt på Carl Larsson-verk där fantasin är utgångspunkt för
bilderna. Tanken var väl att det här skulle bli ett möte mellan två
”fantasyintresserade” konstnärer, men slingrande jugendornament och
några illustrationer av mytologiska och litterära figurer (bland annat
illustrationerna till Viktor Rydbergs medeltida riddardrama Singoalla) är
knappast tillräckligt för att rubba bilden av Carl Larsson som en målare
styrd av idealistiska idéer där naturen och kärnfamiljen har en central
roll.
Ändå är det ett verk av Carl Larsson som drar blickarna till sig. För
även om Midvinterblot inte är en fysisk del av utställningen, är det
nationalmålarens version av legenden om hednakonungen som frivilligt
© Fredrik Söderberg
offrar sig själv, som inspirerat Söderberg till några målningar som
tematiskt fungerar som utställningens mittpunkt.
Med sin teatrala koreografi och sitt kitschigt konturbaserade måleri är
Midvinterblot som gjord för 2000-talets fantasy-, rollspels- och
populärmusiksgenerationer. I svenskt konstliv är målningen dessutom en
symbol för kontroversiella konstnärliga historietolkningar och debatter om
historieautenticitet; målningen fick ju inte hänga på avsedd plats i
Nationalmuseums trapphall när det begav sig, bland annat på grund av
att konstnären ansågs ha en förvirrad historiesyn, men också för att
uppdraget var oklart utformat. (Den hamnade där ändå till slut år 1996.)
Att tala Midvinterblotspråk är med andra ord att tala om nationella
självbilder, den konstnärliga frihetens villkor, historierevision,
kulturpolitikens tillkortakommanden, rock n roll-mytens koppling till
martyrskap och, inte minst, om Nationalmuseums roll som väktare av
svenska kulturskatter. Det är komplexiteten i den diskussionen,
tillsammans med Söderbergs galopperande receptivitet gentemot allt som
är ockult, mystiskt eller fantasy, som gör utställningen på Magasin 3 till
en oväntad och oförutsägbar händelse.
Stockholm 2008-04-23 © Björn Larsson
"The great cthullhu" © Fredrik Söderberg
Milliken | Magasin 3 | Omkonsts startsida
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Här kan du lämna synpunkter på artikeln
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Page 1 of 2
FREDRIK SÖDERBERG
Born 1972, lives and work in Stockholm
EDUCTATION
95–00 Konstfack Art-Department, Stockholm, Sweden
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2010
2008
2007
2006
2005
2003
2001
We Pray to the Sun and Hail the Moon, Milliken Gallery, Stockholm
Magasin 3, Stockholm with Carl Larsson. Curated by Elisabeth Millqvist
Milliken Gallery, Stockholm
Schnittraum//Lutz Becker Gallery, Cologne, Germany
Galleri Brandstrup Oslo Norway
Zodiakens, Geometri tillsammans med Andreas Nilsson Galleri UKS Oslo Norway
Ragnarök, Milliken Gallery, Stockholm, Sweden
Every second burning forever, Restaurant Riche, Stockholm, Sweden
Der Bosch, Amsterdam, Netherlands
They All Float Down Here, Gallery Alp Peter Bergman, Stockholm, Sweden
Hotad skyddad verkstad, Soc, Stockholm, Sweden
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2011
2010
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
Music in Art, Milliken Gallery, Stockholm
Swedish Institute in Paris, Nordic Delight, curated by Sinziana Ravini, Paris, France.
Jekyll Islansd curated by Erik Parker & Max Henry, Honor Fraser Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
Milliken at Rental Gallery with Matti Kallioinen & Lisa Jeannin, New York
NO+CH Nordic Chinese Visual Arts Exhibition Fake Space Bejing China
Matti Kallionen, Christine Ödlund, Nils Edwardsson, Lisa Jonasson. Galleri Pistolet Sofia, Bulgaria
Galleri De Praktijk, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Galleri Glassbox Paris Frankrike
Berlin Art-fair Milliken Gallery, Copenhagen Art-fair Milliken Gallery
Linnés Natur Linnés Hammarby Uppsala
Dwell with Christine Ödlund and Matti Kallioinen, Galleri 54 Göteborg
Fultjacks Blot Raid Projects Los Angeles USA
Sollentuna Artfair, Sweden
En Magisk Värld with Bo Melin and Andreas Nilsson. Marabou Parken, Sundbyberg, Sweden
Dao Dang Performance Festival, Beijing, China
Escapism Champion Fine Art, New York, USA
Skulpturens Hus, Stockholm, Sweden
Skilling Banco Aftershopping, Stockholm, Sweden
Invasion, Dunkers Kulturhus, Helsingborg, Sweden
Allt hör ihop, Växjö Konsthall, Sweden
Bondegatan 47, with Jonas Olson, Stockholm, Sweden
Stockholm Art&Science together with Erik Aalto Kulturhuset, Sweden
Allt hör ihop, Konstmagasinet, Sundsvall, Sweden
Trippy, Bildmuseet, Umeå, Sweden
GROUP EXHIBITIONS CONTINUED
Framtiden, Sen, Artnode Stockholm, Sweden
2001
Allt hör ihop, Södertälje konsthall, Sweden
Aftershopping, Kulturhuset, Stockholm, Sweden
Aloha with Matti Kallioinen, Wanås Slotts park, SwedenLars-Erik Hjertström Lappalainen, Konsten.net Review Milliken Gallery exhibition April
1998
OTHER PROJECTS
2010
2009
2007
2006
2003
2002
Scarlett Imprint, catalogue about contemporary ocultism, Record cover Skull DFX/CM von Hauswolff.
Equinox Festival – A Festival of Scientific Illumination, London
Design for record covers on Important Records.
Record design for the band The Skull Defekts and Enema Syringe and other artist at the experimental label IDEAL Records and English label
Riot Season. Artwork for the cd to the music magazine WIRE special Issue nr about Swedish experimental music.
Record design for the band Wolfeyes and Anla Courtis for the Swedish experimental record label
Kning Disc and the record label IDEAL Records
Responsible for the music together with Matti Kallioinen in the project o-b-o-k together with Ronald Jones at Magazine 3 project room
Djurgårdsbrunn, Stockholm, Sweden
Organized the exhibition “Skilling Banco” together with Jelena Rundquist at “Aftershopping” Kulturhuset, Stockholm, Sweden
Published the book “Universe” together with the Graphic designer Tobias Berving, Sweden.