Leif Engström – Blommorna i fönstret

We are pleased to present Leif Engström’s third solo exhibition at the gallery, Blommorna i fönstret. Since his breakthrough after graduating from the Royal Institute of Art in 2020, Engström has established himself as one of the most prominent artists of his generation.

Through Leif Engström’s gaze, everyday environments are transformed into mythical places, charged with a sense of melancholy and wonder. Parallel to his depiction of urban landscapes, Engström often portrays interiors with precision and sensitivity to the play of shadow and light. The settings are usually places of significance to the artist, associated with personal memories, or simply domestic scenes where life unfolds. Patterned curtains, painted frames, and ornamentation form important elements in Engström’s compositions, sometimes painted on separate stretchers. Selected for their shape and rhythm, the borders reinforce the motifs and elevate an ordinary scene into something special. 

In the new exhibition at the gallery, foliage and architectural elements are carefully rendered with detailed brushwork. In some works, a few fleeting figures move through the scenes. The scale of the paintings is more uniform compared to earlier presentations, while the palette is restrained in a muted, subdued register. In Engström’s paintings, the familiar is charged with a particular intensity; small shifts in details and motifs contribute to a visual world where everything seems unpredictable.

The exhibition is accompanied by a publication featuring a text by Amer Sarsour and designed by Oskar Laurin.

Leif Engström was born in 1992 in Brunskog, Värmland. He holds a master’s degree from the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm. Since his graduation in 2020, Engström’s work has been presented in numerous solo and group exhibitions. Solo presentations include Jönköpings läns museum (SE), Skellefteå Konsthall (SE), and Rackstadmuseet, Arvika (SE). His work has also appeared in group exhibitions at Prins Eugens Waldemarsudde, Nationalmuseum, Moderna Museet, Alma Löv Museum of Unexpected Art, Bonniers Konsthall, and Malmö Art Academy, all in Sweden.

In 2021, Engström received the art scholarship of the Åke Andrén Foundation as well as the Marianne & Sigvard Bernadotte stipend. In addition, he was awarded the Edstrandska Foundation Scholarship in 2023. Engström is represented in the collections of Moderna Museet, Stockholm konst, Public Art Agency Sweden, Ståhl Collection, Region Dalarna, Region Värmland, as well as in the collections of the municipalities of Arvika, Sigtuna, Skellefteå, Örebro and Östersund.