Linnea Rygaard, Cycle of the Werewolf, painting, 13 January–19 February 2022

We are pleased to start the new year with Linnea Rygaard’s third solo exhibition at the gallery, Cycle of the Werewolf. Since her debut at the gallery in 2017, Rygaard’s practice has constantly evolved although remaining true to her unmistakably personal painterly language.

In her new show, borrowing its title from a novel by Stephen King, Rygaard uses one of her paintings as a starting point, letting the other works in the series reflect and amplify each other. There is a new level of detail in the paintings where the application of thin or thick layers of colour is as important as the clever play with shadow and light. The paintings themselves are in focus this time, both reflecting and playing with each other in the gallery space.

The new exhibition reveals a palette which is earthy and subdued. With the painting Bag of Bones as a starting point, the monumental works Dreamcatcher and The Dark Half have unfolded based on a similar structure but multiplied several times. Over the past couple of years, Rygaard’s paintings have become more intricate and introspective, where her interest in the painterly process manifests itself in works which are at the same time somber and intense. As before, her semi-abstract paintings challenge the viewer’s perception; the strive towards logic and structure is constantly overhauled.