Leif Engström

En kvällspromenad, Solo exhibition, Cecilia Hillström Gallery, Stockholm, 8 April–30 April 2021

Engström’s poetic paintings of suburban landscapes and dense forests hold a mysterious quality. The works convey a sense of both melancholy and wonder, where the rendering of light and nature plays an important part. In close dialogue with art history, Engström is an urban explorer – a contemporary version of the Impressionist flâneur, taking inspiration from his everyday life and surroundings. A tension is created in the contrast between civilization and vegetation in his work.

The exhibition title En kvällspromenad (an evening walk) is borrowed from a folk pop song by Anders Dahl from 1974 with the same title. The melody echoes of the Swedish song tradition of dance band and folk music, and resonates with the surroundings and buildings depicted in Engström’s imagery. In his work, there is a strong association with the era of the 60s and the decades that follow. However, through the painter’s gaze we experience his contemporary outlook: weed spurting out of the pavement next to the plastic chairs on the patio; a building fence outlines the evening view over a city; a concrete overpass in the setting sun. Capturing the transience of light, as the day ends or a new begins, there is a presence of tenderness and melancholy in the fleetingness.

In two of the larger works in the exhibition, a band of ornament is surrounding the motifs, giving them an almost mythological character. The contrast of the realistic views and the abstract decor puts the motif in a new light. By balancing nature against urban environments in his work, Engström makes us look at our surroundings from new perspectives.

Reviews/Press:
”Leif Engström ser skönhet i det skenbart oansenliga”, Nils Forsberg / DN Read more…
”Det vilar en suggestiv stämning i mötet mellan miljonprogrammens hus och skogen.”, Therese Bohman / Expressen Read more…
”Även vid de skenbart stilla platserna är allt i konstant rörelse.”, Masha Taavoniku / Konsten.net Read more…
”…självlysande stämningsmåleri…”, Birgitta Rubin / DN Kultur Read more…