the flag project
In The Flag Project, Jacob Dahlgren turns his abstract, colorful compositions into flags, that are hung around the city of Göppingen in Germany this autumn. The prettiest ones have become prints, now available at ed-art.se. We asked him to tell us more:
- The art gallery in Göppingen has many good exhibitions and people travel far to come and see them. But in Göppingen, very few people know that they have an art gallery at all, so the idea with my exhibition was to make the art gallery visible locally.
In The Flag Project, the art gallery has been transformed into a production hall and the entire city has become the exhibition arena. Jacob Dahlgren has made sketches for a number of abstract, geometric images which have since been made into flags. Some of these are displayed in large format (2.5x4 meters) inside the art gallery and 40 smaller flags (110x69 cm) hang outside the art gallery. During the exhibition period, visitors can design their own flags, which seamstresses sew on site. These are then hung up around Göppingen.
Why flags?
- These flags are like abstract paintings where each flag is completely unique and does not symbolize a context or a nation. Rather a self-portrait of the creator of the flag. In addition, they hang outside and sway in the wind, is there a better exhibition space?
Jacob Dahlgren is one of Sweden's most established artists today and one of those who exhibits most internationally. He works in a minimalist and constructivist tradition, but where his predecessors often distance themselves from the viewer, Jacob Dahlgren invites dialogue and co-creation. With his large compositions of, for example, weighing scales, plastic cups or vacuum cleaners, he inscribes himself in the history abstract art, all the while treating with a great deal of humour.
The prints series consists of 18 motifs. They are digital pigment prints in small editions of 9 prints each. See all of them here.
