Artist Talk with Bella Rune, Runo Lagomarsino, and Max Book, accompanied by Head of Collections, Svante Tiren
Moderated by Ruby Henderson-Leconte
With contributions from Leif Holmstrand and Axel Lieber

Date: May 27
Time: kl. 18:00–20:00
Location: The Royal Academy of Fine Arts Auditorium
The talk will be held in English

As a prelude to the launch of Konstakademien’s digital collection, this two-part intervention considers the backside, the verso, and the allure of the object from the back. Extending from an expansive, yet largely hidden collection made up of works gifted to the academy by new member artists, Verso: Uncovering the Konstakademien Collection consists of a visual installation and a public conversation to uncover the details of these reception pieces.

Verso aims to centre artists’ voices within institutional collections, through their responses and artistic contributions. The visual installation consists of a video tour taken within the collection spaces, alongside words from academy members Leif Holmstrand and Axel Lieber on their respective artworks in relation to their practice, the process, and the desired afterlife of the work within the collection. Accompanying the video tour into the closed storage areas are images from the digital catalogue documenting the back sides of the collection’s pieces – the side holding key historical details, notes, and unexpected clues.

On May 27th, from 18:00–20:00, the artist talk, with academy members Bella Rune, Runo Lagomarsino, and Max Book, in particular, seeks to understand the relationship between the artist and the artwork gifted to Konstakademien’s collection, bringing out the various personal narratives and choices behind this process.

The visual installation will be on view in the back entrance from Jakobsgatan at Konstakademien for two weeks.

About the Artists

Bella Rune (b. 1971) works with sculpture, including performative elements and experiments with different materials and techniques. She has been a member of the Academy since 2023.

Max Book (b. 1953) works with expressive, monumental painting, mixing collage, strange characters and contradictory objects. He has been a member of the Academy since 1996.

Runo Lagomarsino (b. 1977) works with a range of materials and mediums, such as installation, sculpture, drawing, performance, and action, exploring the politics and poetics of space and place. He has been a member of the Academy since 2024.

Leif Holmstrand (b. 1972) works with assemblage, collage, textile and crochet, exploring queer and trans experiences, and bodily subversion. Leif has been a member of the Academy since 2023.

Axel Lieber (b. 1960) works with sculpture and public art, transforming everyday objects by rearranging them into new forms. He has been a member of the Academy since 2016.

Verso: Uncovering the Konstakademien Collection is curated by Ruby Henderson-Leconte, Michaela Yarmol-Matusiak, Tyra Wihl, and Letian Lois Ding, within the context of the Curating Art, International Master’s Programme at the Department of Culture and Aesthetics, Stockholm University.