Adèle Essle Zeiss: Tyngdspegel
October 16–December 19, 2021
Stockholm University
Frescativägen 26A
SE-106 91 Stockholm
Sweden
Hours: Wednesday 11am–8pm,
Thursday–Friday 11am–5pm,
Saturday–Sunday 12–4pm
accelerator@su.se
Jonathan Baldock: Warm Inside
Curator: Therese Kellner
Adèle Essle Zeiss: Tyngdspegel
Curator: Richard Julin
In what state will our bodies and minds be when we encounter one another again after almost two years of a global pandemic? Accelerator’s autumn programme is focused on transformation and how we relate to the human body and our personal space. The British artist Jonathan Baldock presents his first solo exhibition in Sweden, in parallel with a presentation of the Swedish artist Adèle Essle Zeiss. Two exhibitions characterised by sensuousness, presence and a cautious hopefulness.
Jonathan Baldock’s work explores how trauma, sensuality, vulnerability and spirituality affect the manner in which we relate to the human body and the space it inhabits. Baldock has a strong interest in performativity, myth, folklore and traditional rituals. In Accelerator’s subterranean space, Baldock will produce a peaceful parallel world with newly created sculptures, whose dimensions and designs are based on an idea of human cocoons—places for waiting and metamorphosis. Baldock’s art is often biographically grounded, these new works produced during a cataclysmic time, are characterised by the relationship to home and personal space as something both protecting and suffocating.
Adèle Essle Zeiss creates visually stripped-down performance works and installations that accentuate the presence of the human body in space. As a viewer one finds oneself in a spatiality with people who perform the work in concentrated silence. The space is charged by slow movements and simple objects that clarify the subtle gestures performed by the bodies. In recent years, Essle Zeiss has taken an interest in the experience of the weight of a body and how systems of balance are stored in our bodies and operate independent of our volition. Her recent work has been centred on how we affect and are connected to one another. At Accelerator, Adèle Essle Zeiss will present both a new three-part performance work and a trio of older works, one of which will be shown on two occasions outdoors on the Stockholm University campus.
About Jonathan Baldock
Jonathan Baldock (b. 1980, Kent, England) lives and works in London and works across multiple platforms including sculpture, installation and performance. Baldock has contributed to an ongoing solo exhibition at La Casa Encendida (Spain). Previous solo exhibitions include Kunsthall Stavanger (Norway), Camden Arts Centre, Southwark Park Galleries, as well as exhibitions at De La Warr Pavilion and the Towner Eastbourne Biennial (UK). Jonathan Baldock is represented by Stephen Friedman Gallery (UK).
About Adèle Essle Zeiss
Adèle Essle Zeiss (b. 1983, Stockholm, Sweden) trained as a dancer at the Royal Swedish Ballet School and received a master’s degree in art from the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm in 2018. Essle Zeiss’s performance works have been presented at among others MDT, Haninge Konsthall, Konstparken Ulvhälls hällar (Sweden) and Den Frie Dansehallerne (Denmark). In 2020, she was a dance artist in residence at Iaspis (Sweden). Adèle Essle Zeiss’s work Statolit is part of the collection of Moderna Museet (Sweden).
About Accelerator
Accelerator is an exhibition space where art, science and social issues meet. It is part of Stockholm University. The mission of Accelerator is to engage actively with society, producing exhibitions presenting international and Swedish contemporary art.
Accelerator is supported by Magasin III Museum & Foundation for Contemporary Art and The Robert Weil Family Foundation.
