Artist: Jeff Olsson

Galleri Magnus Karlsson presents Jeff Olsson’s fourth solo exhibition at the gallery. The exhibition Oh No features drawings from the last couple of years.

In the first room we are introduced to an installation of smaller works and animations together with additions, fragments and texts applied directly on the gallery walls. In the second room a series of larger drawings are presented.

In his artistry Jeff Olsson has worked exclusively with drawing since the start. His works are created with charcoal, graphite and dry pastel on paper and have with few exceptions been in black and white. Something ancient and prehistorical about drawing lives on in Olsson’s imagery, even though they are of course contemporary. A poetic and substantive connection to a primitive creation with the coal from a burned-out campfire. The drawings often reminiscent of relics or messages from a time that no longer exists, or that has not yet arrived. They carry an inherent melancholy and despair and seem to be drawn out of necessity rather than pleasure. But in the austerity there is also a childish dark humor and an almost manic desire to tell stories. The pen, stick or piece of charcoal continues an endless journey on the paper.

In my artistry I try to approach the human relationship with nature and our mythologizing of it. Something that does not seem to disappear but rather paradoxically strengthens the more we destroy our surroundings. I relate to my imagery as a spatiality, a place that I temporarily visit when I draw. With my drawing I look for landscapes and people. Not knowing who or what is waiting is an important part of my work process. The content of the drawings almost always takes place at night. I am interested in the ambivalence that the night offers. Darkness can bring danger and discomfort, but there is also a kind of poetic potential in the indeterminacy.
–Jeff Olsson

Jeff Olsson was born 1981 in Kristinehamn, Sweden. He lives and works in Gothenburg, Sweden. Education (MFA) at Valand Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden (2003–2008). Selected solo exhibitions: Kristinehamns konstmuseum, Sweden (2020), Nevven Gallery, Gothenburg, Sweden (2018), Galleri Magnus Karlsson, Stockholm, Sweden (2018, 2015, 2011, 2010), Hellvi Kännungs, Gotland, Sweden (2017), Passagen, Linköpings konsthall, Sweden, together with Joakim Ojanen, (2016), Market Art Fair, Stockholm, Sweden (2014), Krets, Malmö, Sweden (2014), Jack Hanley, New York, US (2013) och Galleri Thomassen, Gothenburg, Sweden (2009). Selected group exhibitions: London Art Fair, Mothflower, UK (2022), Chart Art Fair, Copenhagen, Denmark (2021, 2014), Künstlerhaus Palais Thurn & Taxis, Austria (2019), Gothenburg Museum of Art, Sweden (2019, 2015), Strandverket, Marstrand, Sweden (2015), Konsthallen–Bohusläns museum, Uddevalla, Sweden (2014), Frieze Art Fair, Jack Hanley Gallery, UK (2013), The Armory Show, New York, US (2012, 2011), Garemijn Hall, Bruges, Belgium (2012), Needles and Pens, San Francisco, US (2010), Göteborgs Konsthall, Gothenburg (2008), Bonniers Konsthall, Stockholm, Sweden (2008) och Art Copenhagen, Denmark (2007). His works are represented in collections of e.g. Gothenburg Museum of Art, Sweden, Västerås Konstmuseum, Sweden, Region Värmland, Sweden, Region Gävleborg, Sweden, Linköping Municipality, Sweden, Public Art Agency, Sweden and private collection in Sweden and internationally.