Viktor Kopp & Marcus Matt

Cecilia Hillström Gallery is pleased to introduce a duo exhibition with two artists not previously shown at the gallery, Viktor Kopp (b 1971) and Marcus Matt (b 1992). They are both alumni of Malmö Art Academy.

As painters, Kopp and Matt are united in their exploration of painting as both a site and an object. In the exhibition, Matt’s small-scale paintings work as a backbone, creating a rhythm in the space. Kopp’s works, being at times unconventional in shape, are expanding the exhibition as interventions in the gallery space.  

Viktor Kopp, who recently had a comprehensive solo show at Fullersta Gård, presents new and recent works. His painterly process involves an investigation of the concepts of “site” and “object”. Experimenting with horizontal and vertical installations and arranging paintings in groups allows Kopp to expand the image space into the exhibition room. The tension between the surface and the site of the image as well as the exhibition room is key. With an intuitive colour scheme and a treatment of the paint bordering on the impressionistic, he explores the painting’s possibility of being both space and surface.

Similarly, Marcus Matt is intrigued by the thought of the painting as an object, adding a wooden board on the backside to “lift” the paintings off the wall. His small-scale works suggest a range of purposes, the portable format offering a widened possibility for experiencing the work. Matt’s content is intuitive and based on a personal experience of perceiving the world, of seeing. The paintings are created in one single flow – the challenge is to capture the essence of the memory of his experience, rather than a specific motif.

Where Viktor Kopp’s focus lies more on the space within the painting, Marcus Matt’s interest is the flat canvas. They are, however, in a sense both focusing on the inner and outer image and how to create a mental space in which the viewer’s gaze can find rest.

Viktor Kopp (born 1971 in Stockholm, Sweden) holds an MFA from Malmö Art Academy (2000). Kopp has exhibited at Fullersta gård, Stockholm, Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Malmö Art Museum, Ystad konstmuseum, Lunds konsthall, Turku Art Museum, Finland, Bureau, New York, Frieze New York, Blondeau & Cie, Geneva, Switzerland, Ribordy Contemporary, Geneva, Switzerland and Galerie Rolf Henegesbach, Wuppertal, Germany, to name a few.  Viktor Kopp was awarded IASPIS New York Fellowship at ISCP in 2013, the Edstrand Foundation Scholarship in 2012 and the Ellen Trotzig Grant in 2001. He is represented in the collections of Malmö Art Museum, Public Art Agency Sweden, Region Skåne, Malmö Municipality and Lund Municipality as well as in private collections in Sweden and abroad. Public commissions include Botrygg, Övre Vasastaden, Linköping, Bardisanen, Lund and The Library of Tollarp.  

Marcus Matt (born 1992 in Dalköpinge, Sweden) holds an MFA from Malmö Art Academy (2017). He has also studied at Cooper Union, New York, USA (BFA). Matt has exhibited at Malmö konsthall, the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts, Stockholm, Gävle Art Center, Ravinen Kulturhus, Båstad, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen, Denmark, Kunsthal Aarhus, Denmark, Galerie Anhava, Helsinki, Finland, Galleri Thomas Wallner, Galleri Arnstedt, Östra Karup, ANNAELLEGALLERY, Stockholm and Sölvesborgs Konsthall.  This year, Marcus Matt received the Ellen Trotzig Grant 2023 from Malmö Art Museum. In addition, he was awarded The Swedish Arts Grants Committee’s one-year working grant in 2022 and 2019, Eric and Inger Olson-Ekdahls grant in 2021 and the Bernadotte Scholarship in 2017. Matt is represented in the collections of Public Art Agency Sweden, Gävle Art Center, Region Skåne and Region Dalarna.