Press Release

On Saturday February 20th, 2021 Grafik i Väst Gallery will open the solo exhibition of the Swedish-Ecuadorian artist Gaby Berglund Cárdenas: PRINTS, BOOKS AND SOLITARY THINGS. The exhibition runs until March 10th.

Ecuadorian born Cárdenas has a background in project management. She has called many cities across Asia, USA and Europe ‘home’, travelling with her family across the globe before settling back in Sweden in 2019. Her travels allowed her to extend her artistic practice, earning a Master’s in Fine Arts at Kyungsung University in Busan, South Korea in 2011.

This is Cárdenas’ first solo exhibition in Sweden. The artist has had several solo exhibitions in South Korea and the U.S.A. in the last 10 years. She has exhibited internationally in prestigious galleries and museums such as Edward Hopper House of Art in NYC; Koehnline Museum of Art in Chicago, IL, The Beaney Museum of Canterbury in UK, Hangaram Museum in Seoul, South Korea, the A.I.R. Gallery in New York and the Lawndale Art Center in Houston, Texas.

Today her artistic practice straddles between her studio in Gothenburg, KKV printing collective and a bigger waterfront studio in the countryside of Sweden. Cárdenas is an active member of KKV Konstnärernas Kollektiv Verkstad, KC Väst and Grafik i Väst. She was recently interviewed by ADA Sweden.

Cárdenas’ process involves mindful rituals of repetition and flow, which suggest dichotomies of sacred and profane, East and West, lightness and weight, creating and erasing.

‘PRINTS, BOOKS AND SOLITARY THINGS’

In this exhibition, Cárdenas presents a series of etchings, artist’s books and objects made during the pandemic. Whether performing, making installations, film, objects, prints or artist’s books, the repetitive aspect of her process becomes a meditative ritual to explore the elemental uncertainty of time, space and being or social inequities with regard to gender, migrations or race. Thread, ink, fabric, metal and handmade paper are used in metaphorical ways, while honoring sustainability.

For more information contact the gallery at giv@ramverk.se or check out our website grafikivast.se Grafik i Väst is a non-profit organization for graphic artists founded in 1991. The gallery is located in the heart of Gothenburg city and has a collection of over 4500 prints and artist’s books. Location: Storgatan 20, 411 38 Göteborg. Phones: 031-711 38 39, 070-018 18 73. Opening times: Wednesday 12-18, Thursday to Sunday 12-16 or by appointment.