Matthias van Arkel, b. 1967, lives and works in Stockholm, Sweden. He holds a MFA from Konstfack University College of Arts (1986-1991) and The Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm (1991-1993). He has been exhibited extensively both in Sweden and internationally. His works are represented in several private collections in USA, GB, Germany, Holland and Scandinavia as well as public collections such as Moderna Museet in Stockholm (SE); The National Public Art Council, Stockholm (SE); Ståhl Collection, Norrköping (SE), The SOKO Art Collection Helsinki (FI) and The National Library of France, Paris (FR).

High voltage on the senses. Concentrated in colour. Solid in execution. Matthias van Arkel's work is a journey and dialogue on adaptation, resilience and pushing physical and mental boundaries. Ideas persist with the solidness of the material, giving permanence to the ephemeral. Supple in meaning and firm to touch, the works oscillate in shapes and methods but not in deliberateness, giving heft to its own mass, where thoughts gravitate towards each other for a cohesive whole. The intricate details on the paintings are built layer upon layer of paint (silicone) and intention flattened into a single tactile brush stroke. The works are set in place through high temperature and extreme compression, forming a compact piece, tight in energy.

On an incessant exploration of the essence of colours, materiality, dimensions, textures and space, the works elevate an intimate and poetic vocabulary. Matthias van Arkel speaks through intrinsic elements contained within his pieces. His works are an abstraction that recontextualizes the self into new strokes of expression, an allegory of memories, people, experiences and art history that give body – where the painterly comes to life. Framework and flesh in one, a singular and sculptural expanse of superimposed hues that simultaneously reveals and hides.

It is an exercise of control and release only to be revealed at the end of a heavy physical process, a high-density modus operandi. His new venture into bronze is a clash between new and old, driven by the curiosity of combining contemporary expression with ancient tradition. Throughout his oeuvre, van Arkel is able to tease out the sensitivity within the robust.

“Silicone has a strong physicality. It is a material with character,” he says. “My work is all about coming together and breaking apart. It is sticky, sensual, imperfect, with a certain ferocity. It is too shiny, too thick, too heavy, too colorful, too rough—too much of everything.”

In 2003, before he started working with silicone, he created the installation “Bedroom” which was on view at Botkyrka Konsthall in Sweden. It was a 1:1 recreation of the bedroom he shared with his wife, adding to a Swedish library on the topic alongside Ingmar Bergman’s “Scenes from a Marriage.” Tracey Emin’s seminal 1998 work “My Bed” also comes to mind. “I used 260 liters of red paint to create that exhibition, it nearly put me into financial ruin,” van Arkel says. “I applied a warm cadmium red with a palette knife and incorporated a cold red and a browner and dirtier tone to represent the different facets of a relationship.”

van Arkel is widely known for his silicone sculptures, which he views as hybrid paintings. “Each strip of silicone represents a brushstroke,” he explains. Working step-by-step with a roller mill, cutting machines, and the oven where he fires his work, his creative process is performative as it intensely engages the body. Usually, he works on a table and builds the work strip by strip.

During the process of layering, imperfections become embedded in the work, creating a tension between his own will and the behavior of the material. To fire the works van Arkel cuts them into squares to fit them into the oven. van Arkel approaches color like a painter combining both, in his words, “disgusting and beautiful” colors. His departure from traditional painting is clearest in his clean edges cubes that allow access to all six sides of the work—unlike the one-dimensionality of a canvas.

After living in New York between 2014 to 2016, van Arkel returns to the city several times a year to work on special projects and install works with collectors. With the help of public art agencies and real estate developers in Sweden, van Arkel’s work is embedded within the fabric of Stockholm, located within transportation terminals and buildings.

In the U.S., he frequently collaborates with the architecture firm Morris Adjmi for whom he has created a large-scale artwork to incorporate into the façade of a nine-story building on the intersection of Broadway and Canal. The skin of the building will be cast in zinc, engaging with SoHo’s history as a cast-iron district. Through the same firm, van Arkel also spraypainted the interior of the ten-story Atlantic Plumbing Building in D.C.

“When people come to my studio, they either love my work or hate it,” van Arkel concludes. Notably, with all of his work, he talks about the importance of hitting a “poetic nerve” — when an artwork affects the viewer in a way that is “beyond words.”

Videos of his process 

here

and here

Education:

1991-93
Kungliga Konsthögskolan
Royal Institute of Fine Arts 
Stockholm, SE

1986-91
MFA, Konstfack
University College of Arts, Crafts and Design
Stockholm, SE

Represented

Private collections in USA, Great Britain, Germany, Holland and Scandinavia

Moderna Museet in Stockholm, SE
The National Public Art Council, Stockholm, SE
The Stockholm Public Art Council, Stockholm, SE
The SOKO Art Collection, Helsinki, Finland
The National Library of France, Paris, France

Solo Exhibitions

2023
Baroque
P-Gallery
Palma, SP

High Density
Björkholmen Gallery
Stockholm, SE

2022
Stripe Paintings
Galleri Hammarén
Gothenburg, SE

Dunkers Kulturhus
Entrance hall show 2022-24
Helsingborg, SE

2021
Stripe Paintings
Björkholmen Gallery
Stockholm, SE

2020
Höganäs Museum
Höganäs, SE

2018
Relations
Galerie Forsblom
Stockholm, SE​

Galleri Hammarén
Gothenburg, SE

2016
Altered Measurement, Clear Painting
Cecilia Hillström Gallery
Stockholm, SE​

Matthias van Arkel
Morris Adjmi Architects
New York City, USA 

2013
Loop
Cecilia Hillström Gallery
Stockholm, SE​

Market At Large
Special project for entrance
with Cecilia Hillström Gallery 
The Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts
Stockholm, SE

2012
Vigorous Aggradations
Art Affairs Gallery 
Amsterdam, NL

Mårtenson och Persson
Västra Karup, SE

2011
Please Touch the Artwork
Andersson/Sandström Gallery
Umeå, SE 

2010
Closer
Galerie Aronowitsch,
Stockholm, SE

Höganäs Museum
Höganäs, SE

2008
Open Studio show
Elizabeth Foundations for the Arts
New York, USA 

Silicone Dreams
Galerie Aronowitsch
Stockholm, SE

2007
Box of Bricks
Skärets Konsthall
Höganäs, SE

2006
For you, Dad
Galerie Aronowitsch
Stockholm, SE

2004
Constant Pressure
Galleri 54
Gothenburg, SE 

Silicone Variations
Galleri Magnus Åklundh
Malmö, SE 

Galerie Aronowitsch
Stockholm, SE

2002-03
Botkyrka Konsthall together with Per Kesselmar
Tumba, SE

2001-02
Galleri Mariann Ahnlund together with Lars Arrhenius
Umeå, SE

2000
Galleri C Hjärne
Helsingborg, SE 

100 liter bränd Sienna
Claesson Koivisto Rune,
Architect Office,
Stockholm, SE 

Galleri Susanne Pettersson
Norrköping, SE

1998
Galerie Aronowitsch
Stockholm, SE

Group Exhibitions

2023
Explosive Visions, Black Iris
Maria Nordin 
Gunilla Klingberg 
Johan Thurfjell 
Matthias van Arkel 
Stefan Otto 
Anneè Olofsson 
Juan Pedro Fabra Guemberena 
Anna Camner 
Ulrika Sparre 
Marcus Mårtenson 
Julia Peirone 
Éva Mag

2019
Within Realities
Alma Löv Art Museum
Ö Ämtervik, SE

2017
Think Paint
UNIX Gallery, New York
Fabian Marcaccio
Lydia Dona
Jonathan Lasker
Pia Fries
Pedro Barbeito
Matthias van Arkel
Joan Waltemath

2016
Borås International Sculpture Biennale
Sweden

2014
Catch as Catch Can
Margaret Thatcher Projects
New York, USA

Galerie Örsta
Anders Krisár, Roger Metto, Matthias van Arkel
Kumla, SE

2012 
Klang och Jubel 2002-2012
Skärets Konsthall, SE

Galleri Mårtenson & Persson
Båstad, SE

Galerie Aronowitsch 
En Subjektiv Historia 1966-2011
The Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts
Stockholm, SE

Dimensioner på Glid 
Marcus, Partos, van Arkel
Stockholm, SE

2010
Nordic Mixed Media
The American Scandinavian Society
New York, USA

Höganäs Museum, 
Höganäs, SE

2008
Present
The Alma Löv Museum
Ö Ämtervik, SE

2007
Transitions
Curated by M van Arkel
Galerie Aronowitsch
Stockholm, SE

2004
Skulpturens Hus
Curated by M van Arkel and
F Söderberg
Stockholm, SE
Petra Lindholm
Jonas Nobel
Christine Ödlund
Matti Kallioinen
Fredrik Söderberg
Matthias van Arkel

Moving In
Hemma hos Fredrik c/o
Andrén-Schiptjenko
Stockholm, SE

Nytt:
Galerie Aronowitsch
Stockholm, SE

2003
Invation
Dunkers Kulturhus
Helsingborg, SE

Adagio
Gävle Konstcentrum
Gävle, SE

Galerie Aronowitsch
Stockholm, SE

2000
Galleri C Hjärne
Helsingborg, SE 

Niklas von Bartha Gallery
London, GB

1995
Galerie Aronowitsch
Stockholm, SE

Public Artworks

2016
Värtahamnen, Stockholms Hamnar, Stockholm, SE

2015
Atlantic Plumbing, Washington, USA

2013
Kv. Caroli, Malmö, SE

2012
Kumla Badhus, Kumla, SE

2011
SL Stockholm Transport, Jakobsberg, SE

2006
Hässelbyhallen, Stockholm, SE

2005
Svenska Bostäder, Nybohov, Stockholm, SE

2002
Dialysen, Södersjukhuset, Stockholm, SE

Rotemannen, Alby kulturhus, Stockholm, SE

1990
Luma företagsby, Stockholm, SE

Grants

2004
Otte Skölds Grant (The Royal Academy of Fine Arts)

2001
O and J Hullgrens Grant (The Royal Academy of Fine Arts)

2000
IASPIS for an exhibition in LondonThe Hanaholm Grant in Helsinki, Finland

1999
The Art Grants Committee, 2-year grant

1998
IASPIS International Artists Studio Program in Sweden, for a 4-month stay in Karlsruhe, Germany

1997
The Art Grants Committee, 1-year grant

1996
Lars H. Teschs Foundation

1995
Arthur Lundkvist and Maria Wines Foundation

1990
Stiernstedt Kockenhus Foundation