Niklas Asker
Niklas Asker (b. 1979, Nordingrå, Sweden) lives and works in Malmö. The artist’s work resonates with William Blake’s writing of ‘paying attention to the minute particulars in our world’, which in Asker’s case prevails through phantom shadows or wrinkles of skin. It would be accurate to describe the artist’s process as an archaeological one as well as artistic: he journeys the halls of art history through influences spanning Rodin to Carl Eldh. The artist speaks of ‘pure human expression, stripped of all unnecessary details’, and of ‘freeing’ himself from the boundaries of figuration through his art; his sculptural subjects are often devoid of identity but instilled with expression.
Selected solo exhibitions include: Other Artefacts, Union Pacific, London, United Kingdom (2023), The Shroud, Nicodim Gallery, Los Angeles, California, US (2023), Every Branch is a Memory, Galleri Cora Hillebrand, Gothenburg (2022) and Filling the Broken Mold, Galleri Ping-Pong, Malmö (2020). Selected group exhibitions include: Bucharest: 10 Years, Nicodim Gallery, Los Angeles (2023), Emotional Rescue, Galleria Annarumma, Napoli (2023), The Intouchables, Gallery Poulsen, Copenhagen (2021) and Highly Toxic, Digitaliseum, Malmö (2021).
A Way Forward, 2023, oil on canvas, 46 x 33 cm
The Island, 2023, oil on canvas, 80 x 140 cm
Shards, 2023, oil on canvas, 35 x 24 cm
Moonlight Ceremony, 2023, oil on canvas, 180 x 140 cm
Preparations, 2023, oil on canvas, 57 x 42 cm
Tempest, 2023, plaster and bronze, 30 x 15 x 12 cm
The Shroud, 2023, oil on canvas, 115 x 84 cm
Moonlight, 2023, oil on canvas, 180 x 140 cm
The Tree, 2022, oil on canvas, 180 cm x 100 cm
Untitled, 2021, oil on board, 15 x 21cm
Curtain, 2022, oil on canvas, 80 x 120cm
Second Skin (after Caravaggio), 2021, oil and beeswax on panel, walnut frame, 24 x 30cm
Mirror, 2021, oil on mdf board, brass plate, walnut frame, 38 cm x 29cm
Piercer, 2021, oil on board, 16 x 22cm
Wake Up, 2022, oil on canvas, walnut frame, 30 x 21cm
The Merchant, 2020, oil on board, 30 x 40cm
Last Light, 2023, oil on canvas, 46 x 33 cm
Into Hiding, 2023, oil on canvas, 46 x 33 cm
Family Values, 2023, oil on canvas, 46 x 33 cm
About Time, 2023, oil on canvas, 31 x 24 cm
Tempest, 2023, plaster and bronze, 30 x 15 x 12 cm
The Flowers, 2023, oil on canvas with walnut frame, 57 x 42 cm
Sacrifice, 2023, oil on canvas, 81 x 60 cm
The Gift, 2023, oil on canvas, 57 x 42 cm
Severed, 2022, oil on board, walnut frame, 21 x 30cm
The Weight, 2021, oil on canvas, oak frame, 100 x 150cm
The Couple, 2022, oil on canvas, walnut frame, 50 x 35 cm
Mother, 2021, oil on canvas, 24 x 35cm
When The Light Comes Crashing In, 2021, oil and acrylic on board, walnut frame, 30 x 21 cm
Thief With A Broken Wing, 2022, oil on MDF, 30 x 43cm
In a Shadow, 2022, Oil on canvas, walnut frame, 50 x 35cm