September 11 – October 4, 2025
Opening reception: Thursday, September 11, 5–7 PM
In 2005, Susanna Slöör debuted with a solo exhibition at Galleri Helle Knudsen, then located at Södermalmstorg. Almost exactly twenty years later, she returns to the gallery, now on Hantverkargatan, to mark the anniversary. The exhibition is a retrospective of the impulse to draw and tell stories, which for Slöör awoke at a very early age. "Snälla Hjältar" (Kind Heroes) is the title of the exhibition, paying tribute to the stories of her childhood.
From the exhibition catalogue:
My first studio was the playpen with its bars raised like lances. Inside, from an early age, I would sit building castles out of blocks and quietly shred weekly magazines. My earliest memories are of being two years old, waking up amid the ruins of blocks with bruises on my arms and legs. I remember my crib and how my hand would slip between the bars. From time to time, I saw my fist against the faintly patterned wallpaper, as if the hand could dissolve into a cloud and pass through the wall.
Then came the writing desk with its endless roll of drawing paper that could be pulled out and filled with long sheets. Around the age of six, at the height of that period, I enjoyed narrating my stories out loud. They could be instantly illustrated like a rolling film before my eyes. I would pace round and round along the border of the fine carpet, double-visioned. Every exciting event could unfold in harmony with the world around me.
A lasting impression at the age of nine was also the encounter with The Battle of San Romano by the Early Renaissance master Paolo Uccello at the National Gallery, London. The rearing horses and fallen heroes created a dizzying perspective into the painting's landscape. I began drawing horses early on; in fact, that is essentially what I devoted myself to between the ages of five and thirteen—hence the obvious fascination with the painting's not-so-kind content. In my own imagination, however, kind heroes dwelled, and it is a pleasure to summon them again more than fifty years later.
Susanna Slöör (b. 1962 in Nyköping) lives and works in Stockholm. She studied art at the Gerlesborg School in Stockholm and later history of ideas, philosophy, and literary studies at Stockholm University. Her practice includes not only her own artistry but also extensive work as an art critic, writer, lecturer, and curator. Since 2002, she has run the online art magazine Omkonst together with artist Leif Mattsson. Between 2010 and 2017, she served as Permanent Secretary of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, and since 2014, she has chaired the Hilding Linnqvist Art Foundation.
At Galleri Helle Knudsen, she has previously had two solo exhibitions (2005, 2008) and participated in several group exhibitions (2004, 2006, 2007). Most recently, she exhibited in a duo show with Leif Mattsson (2022). Beyond this, her work has been shown at galleries such as Galleri Hammarén in Gothenburg (2019), Galleri Olsson in Stockholm (2018), and Galleri Argo in Stockholm (2012, 2015). She has also exhibited at Vänersborgs Konsthall (2019), Enköping Konsthall (2015), and Arboga Konsthall (2012), among others.
Susanna Slöör, Snälla Hjältar I (Kind Heroes I), 2025. Watercolor and ink on canvas, 210 x 320 cm
Susanna Slöör, Tändhatten (The Match), 2024. Watercolor and ink on paper, 107 x 58 cm
Susanna Slöör, Solaris, 2024. Watercolor and ink on paper, 76 x 56 cm
Susanna Slöör, Tänkare (Thinker), watercolor and ink on paper, 76 x 56 cm