As Covid-19 continues to hinder in-real-life art interaction, Stockholm-based photographer (and longtime Wallpaper* contributor) Gustav Almestål and art director Hedvig Myhrman have devised a deft solution.
S.Y.L.A. (which stands for Support Your Local Artist) is a curated Instagram auction initiative aiming to bring ‘artists and audience closer together’ to give the Stockholm arts community a welcome boost in the process.
Live through February 2021, the curated auction brings together works in a spectrum of approaches and materials. Sculpture – in all its glorious forms – is a recurring theme, but available works also comprise ceramics, painting, textile art, pastel works, glass pieces, created by both emerging and established contemporary artists.
Erika Emerén, SLT, 2020
The formula is simple: prospective buyers can browse the available works on the S.Y.L.A website. When a piece piques their interest, they submit an offer (in Euros) via direct message on Instagram. One hour before the auction slot for a specific work ends, interested bidders are then connected in a thread, and the highest bidder becomes the proud new owner.
Many of the works share common threads, from references to key themes in art history to the artists’ cultural heritage as well as the ongoing pandemic. In Polnarnatt (2020) Sámi artist Carola Grahn combines reindeer hide, sinew thread and woollen fabric – materials traditionally used in duodji, a traditional Sámi craft, in a manner reminiscent of minimalist abstract painting. Siri Carlén’s colourful pastel drawing Still life (2018) sees everyday objects bear traces of the human hand as well as her folklore inspiration. Yngvild Saeter materialises her visions during a failed brain surgery, in the shamanistic biker-influenced Aragorn Light (2020) with antlers growing out of it.
S.Y.L.A. is both a timely reminder of the critical support needed for artists in a time of shared crisis, and a clever solution to art appreciation in our ongoing virtual reality.
Carola Grahn, Polnarnatt, 2020
Siri Carlén, Still Life, 2018
Yngvild Saeter, Aragorn Light, 2020
Jonatan Nilsson, Resin Vase, 2020
Sara Lundkvist, Ring i Ring
Nkuli Mlangeni-Berg, Congo Rug
Linnéa Gad, Tree Became Tounge
INFORMATION
S.Y.L.A. auctions will take place online through February 2021.
-
Premium pocketable audio scales up with the new SP4000 from Astell&KernThe Astell&Kern A&ultima SP4000 is a serious piece of audiophile equipment, a high-res portable player that offers endless ways to shape your listening experience
-
The ultimate amenity in this Canadian apartment building? A trio of scene-stealing restaurantsPart of Citizen on Jasper, a new residential tower, Va!, Olia, and Mimi offer a thrilling day-to-night dining experience
-
These sculptural mirrors embody the relaxed spirit of the MedPhotographed in a Mallorcan residence designed by local studio Munarq, these new sculptural mirrors by New York furniture company Ready To Hang are inspired by the sea
-
Rolf Sachs’ largest exhibition to date, ‘Be-rühren’, is a playful study of touchA collection of over 150 of Rolf Sachs’ works speaks to his preoccupation with transforming everyday objects to create art that is sensory – both emotionally and physically
-
Architect Erin Besler is reframing the American tradition of barn raisingAt Art Omi sculpture and architecture park, NY, Besler turns barn raising into an inclusive project that challenges conventional notions of architecture
-
After decades capturing the world’s fashion-set, photographer Johnny Rozsa picks up a paint brushIn his first exhibition of paintings, the New York-based artist celebrates the vibrancy of Tangier while rediscovering a familiar creative outlet
-
Leila Bartell’s cloudscapes are breezily distorted, a response to an evermore digital world‘Memory Fields’ is the London-based artist’s solo exhibition at Tristan Hoare Gallery (until 25 July 2025)
-
Marlene Dumas’ charged, exposed and intimate figures gather in AthensThe artist’s work from 1992 until the present day goes on show at Athens’ Museum of Cycladic Art (until 2 November)
-
What is recycling good for, asks Mika Rottenberg at Hauser & Wirth MenorcaUS-based artist Mika Rottenberg rethinks the possibilities of rubbish in a colourful exhibition, spanning films, drawings and eerily anthropomorphic lamps
-
Get lost in Megan Rooney’s abstract, emotional paintingsThe artist finds worlds in yellow and blue at Thaddaeus Ropac London
-
Kaari Upson’s unsettling, grotesque and seductive world in DenmarkThe Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Denmark is staging the first comprehensive survey of late artist Kaari Upson’s work
