User:Manonfiala/sandbox/markus akesson

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The in-between
This state of in-between, this aspect of transition from one state to another is something that have long preoccupied Markus Åkesson. We find symbols that takes us to rites of passages, such as children and adolescents inhabiting his imagery, being between childhood and adulthood, between sleep and being awake, between presence and dreaming. . Little by little, he takes us away from reality and carries us to the domains of the transitional and the hallucinatory, thus exploring themes like parasomnia, illusion or the descent to the Other-world.(fanny ginies)

However, we are not confronted here to a peaceful Nature offering its overwhelming beauty to contemplation. These paintings, on the contrary, give evidence of forces hidden in the dark, that we feel on the move, that we imagine alarming. A whole symbolism of rites of passage materializes in Åkesson‘s nocturnal landscapes, and we sense the initiatory importance of those suspended moments, through a story that is not told but only suggested by the artist.

Markus Åkesson’s imagery is often inhabited by children and adolescents. They find themselves between childhood and adulthood, between sleep and being awake, between presence and dreaming. (joanna sandell)

In many of Markus Åkesson’s paintings, symbols reoccur in different forms, sometimes as the dominating subject in the foreground, at other points as one of many objects that together tell a fraught tale of life, death and afterlife.

What does “Psychopomp Club” mean? Searching for the word “psychopomp” leads us back to the world of mythology and to the transitional land between life and death. A psychopomp is a guide – a spirit, god, demon or angel – who in the mythology of most religions acts as a guiding spirit as someone recently deceased journeys on to the next world.

Rites of passage have long preoccupied Markus Åkesson. They may range from small but distinct shifts from one phase to the next to more complex leaps, such as from childhood to adulthood. His series contain a thought‐through dramaturgy.(sophie allgårdh)

The protagonist of Rites of Passage is Markus Åkesson´s own daughter, although the scenes have sometimes been reinterpreted and distorted. The boy in the woods is one of his sons.

Working in a classical way with brushes and oil paints,” he takes the viewer on a journey beyond fact, beyond fiction, to a place somewhere in-between. In this quest, his paintings act as “windows that allow the audience to glance into another world” - windows

he leaves wide open for interpretation. The viewer, engaging with his artwork, transcends the everyday to experience a state of awe; it is in this transitional moment – in this in-between state – that “the artwork becomes something that is out of the artists control.”

Markus Åkesson's works are greatly influenced by myths and fairytales. De loin en loin apparaissent également des affinités thématiques avec les créations symbolistes, surréalistes, ou bien celles du Réalisme Magique. Néanmoins, du fait que les tableaux d’Åkesson ne se départent jamais d’un certain ancrage dans le réel, ils apparaissent sans doute plus proches des productions romantiques, avec des modèles comme Caspard David Friedrich pour la peinture, Novalis ou E.T.A Hoffmann pour la littérature. Ces derniers, à l’instar d’Åkesson, dépeignent des mondes cérébraux où l’âme est mise à nu et appréhendent la nature comme miroir de l’imagination. « Clos ton oeil physique afin de voir d’abord avec ton oeil de l’esprit », écrivait Friedrich (2) « Ensuite fais monter au jour ce que tu as vu dans ta nuit de sorte que cela agisse directement et intérieurement sur les autres. » (fanny giniès).