Art Hag

David Zwirner presents Stockholm-based, married artists Mamma Andersson and Jockum Nordstrom in two concurrent solo exhibitions sharing the title Who is sleeping on my pillow. On display are Andersson's quiet and moody paintings of "domestic interiors" and "luminous pastoral landscapes and gardens" (from the press release) and Nordstrom's two and three-dimensional paper works consisting of "collages, watercolors, graphite drawings, and architectural sculptures" built from "cardboard and matchboxes." Also on view in the short hallway separating the two exhibits are a pair of recent, two-sided, collaborative works in which Andersson created the backgrounds and Nordstrom collaged in people and animals.

According to the press release, Andersson's paintings "embody a duality that is central to Swedish culture: the interplay of rural and urban aesthetics, combined with the notion of the everyday." She is inspired by "filmic imagery, theater sets, period interiors, and her native land..." While Andersson's pieces depict seemingly ordinary scenes of people sitting around and empty kitchens and hallways, the works are far from ordinary. You can almost hear the humming or the settling of the still houses as they emit a sense of tension and pique your curiosity.

Nordstrom refers to his two-dimensional works as "stills" because they "read like storyboards" with "all the action tak[ing] place simultaneously in a frozen frame." His naive, childlike scenes show "fantastical settings populated with unique figures, animals, architecture, furniture, musical instruments, and other props, all varying in scale and coexisting harmoniously." His diverse cast of characters include "primitive hunters on horseback, jazz musicians, 18th-century dandies," a Victorian couple and reindeer. One of Nordstrom's many influences is Belgian artist James Ensor and his multi-narrative, action-packed "stills" remind me of Henry Darger and Nordstrom's good friend Marcel Dzama (who interviewed Nordstrom in Who is sleeping on my pillow, a new monograph/catalogue designed by the couple's son, Valentin). Learn more about Who is sleeping on my pillow at Davidzwirner.com. Through June 12th.

Andersson - Dead End, 2010