Artists

André Batista, Vanja Qvarfordt, Madeleine Matsson, Jonna Bo Lammers, Lotte Masker

Press release

KonstDax is a street gallery consisting of four public mural paintings at MatDax in Hökarängen Centrum. The artist Ossian Eckerman ran the project from 2014 to 2019. Konsthall C is proud to continue operating KonstDax as an exhibition space for contemporary public art and as a valued part of the lives and everyday routines of the residents of Hökarängen. Konsthall C issued an open call inviting anyone interested to apply to KonstDax to create large-scale public works for the outdoor gallery KonstDax in Hökarängen Centrum. This year's jury consisted of artistic directors Mariam Elnozahy and board member Catti Brandelius. The four selected artists were: Madeleine Matsson, André Batista, Jonna Bo Lammers, and Lotte Masker (VAAF) and Vanja Qvarfordt. About the artists: André Batista (born 1977 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) is a brazilian-swedish artist who uses the alias "Disformers" in order to elaborate and develop artworks that constantly question our perception on forms, shapes and their role in our society and the presence of art in public spaces – in this case specifically, painting murals and having rollers as a main tool. Vanja Qvarfordt is a Stockholm-based artist, MFA in Fine Art from HDK-Valand, University of Gothenburg, raised in Uppsala. My artistic practice began with photographic and filmic expressions of poetry around mental health, feminism, substance abuse, and love, and I have long-standing experience in and continue to work with text-based practice. My ongoing film project Discovery in Silence (DiS, 2022–) examines three generations—my grandmother, my aunt, and myself—experiences of bulimia nervosa through family archives, Super 8 films, and newly produced material. The project is currently structured into 36 chapters, where each chapter marks a moment of discovery. I develop the concept of bulimic filmmaking, where the illness is not only a theme but functions as an artistic method. The work moves between exposure and listening—to the body, the archives, and the voices that have been silenced—and explores how silence and repetition are reproduced across generations. The method has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Feminist Art and Research. Madeleine Matsson is a Swedish-American artist focusing on plein-air oil painting. She holds a BFA from Concordia University in Montreal, Canada, and an MFA from the New York Studio School. With an active international exhibition history, she most recently held a solo exhibition in Manhattan that explored the conditions of motherhood as an artist in the United States. After 13 years in New York City, she has now settled in Hälsingland, where she deepens her plein air practice and studies both the landscape and the region's active lumber industry. Through years in major cities, she has always sought out nature, and trees have been a constant source of inspiration wherever she has been. In her painting, Matsson seeks the tension between what is disappearing and what remains. VAAF is a Dutch illustration duo, Lotte Masker and Jonna Bo Lammers, known for their large, colourful, and slightly strange murals. Their name comes from vaaf, Gronings dialect for paint. They address social and feminist issues through colour and ornamentation. This way they are making it easier to engage with difficult subjects. They prefer public space because the viewer doesn't choose the encounter, it's forced upon them. That friction is exactly the point. KonstDax is produced by Konsthall C in collaboration with MatDax and Målarmästarns Färgbutik to make contemporary art accessible and present in people's everyday lives. Målarmästarns Färgbutik is located at Sockenvägen 368, 122 63 Enskede. Insta: @malarmastarn.