Cardiac brain

Cardiac brain - 50 years of contemporary art through the collection of Marika and CG Wachtmeister

For over 50 years, Marika and CG Wachtmeister have built up a unique art collection in parallel with the creation of Wanås konst, one of Northern Europe's most mythical and appreciated sculpture parks with an international reputation. More than half of the collection's works are now on display at Liljevalchs in the exhibition Hjärtahjärna between March 15 and September 29.

Marika and CG Wachtmeister began collecting art in the 1970s and today manage a collection of almost 300 works. One of these is Monika Larsen Dennis' 1997 glass sculpture Heartbrain (ed ), a cast heart the size of a brain. According to this heart-brain logic, the Wachtmeisters' collection emerges, where a love of art is combined with a desire to understand the contemporary world.

The collection includes works by the artists who have generated the most debate and international attention in recent decades: Louise Bourgeois, Nan Goldin, Nathalie Djurberg and Hans Berg, Andres Serrano, William Kentridge, Ann-Sofi Sidén and many more.

In an art collection, it is possible to trace both the interests of a collector and the currents of ideas of which the art in the collection is a part. Art helps us to see ourselves and the world around us. What can we understand about the world, society and ourselves through a collection of contemporary art from the last 50 years?

Photo: Mattias Lindbäck