To an Unknown Descendant. Galleri Magnus Karlsson. Stockholm 2015

t's midday and I ride my bike along Katarinavägen. A man has parked his motorcycle next to some bushes. He sits with his eyes closed, back straight, ceremonially, with his legs crossed. Right next to him a large double-handed sword is stuck in the ground. On another occasion, I pass a small crossroad to Hantverkargatan next to Kungsholmstorg. A large and vigorous hare lies in the middle of the street. It's alive but the hind legs are hanging limply. A few people stand around looking, someone is talking on a cellphone.

- Peter Köhler, 2015

We are pleased to present Peter Köhler's fourth solo exhibition in the gallery; To an Unknown Descendant. The exhibition presents paintings and drawings from the last two years.

Köhler's works balances efficiently between detailed figuration and a more autonomous language. In the working process there is a point where he disappears into the imagery and opens up to free association without rules and scripts. The works has a narrative, but the story has no clear beginning or end. Instead they contain a great number of hints, vignettes and fragments. Contours, shadows and silhouettes go in and out of each other. A staircase turns into a bone that becomes a shadow of something else, or maybe an abstract shape. Köhler's work often originates from his current location, where he sensitively collects new impressions. Inspiration often comes from traveling - the most recent trip to California - but also from unexpected everyday occurrences and absurd situations.

The title of the exhibition is borrowed from the Swedish poet Karin Boye's poem To an Unknown Descendant. The often despotic pictures can be read as remnants of a civilization - a kind of contemporary petroglyphs. Something for an unknown descendant to interpret and hence form an idea of our time.

Peter Köhler was born in 1971 in Stockholm, where he lives and works. Educated at the Royal Institute of Art, Stockholm (1995-2000). Selected Solo Exhibitions: Galleri Magnus Karlsson (2015, 2012, 2010, 2009), Tobey Fine Arts, New York, US (2006, 2003), Gallery 54, Gothenburg (2005), Botkyrka Konsthall (2004), Brändström & Stene, Stockholm (2002). He has also made numerous public commissions and is currently presenting a large scale art work in the subway of Stockholm.


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