Andreas Glad, educated in Oslo and Bergen, is a prominent Swedish artist who has long depicted the absence of humans in everyday landscapes. His works originate from three-dimensional models – built from paper, cardboard, and wood – which he then renders in his paintings with photographic precision.
“Body and Soul II”, clubbed for 929 at Stockholms Auktionsverk.
Layering Time, Image, and Memory
Glad's choice of subjects often includes tree structures, community gardens, and abandoned urban environments, where nature sometimes reclaims the scenes of civilization as monuments to our impact and vulnerability. Through these motifs, Glad addresses themes such as climate change, time, and humanity’s place in the world, yet also offers a glimmer of hope: creativity and play as possible pathways toward renewal.
His exhibitions, such as Solid Ground (Sörmland Museum, 2024) and Wipe Your Feet On My Dreams (Berg Gallery, 2022), demonstrate both the breadth and depth of his artistic work. The former presented paintings and models from 2007 to 2024, while the latter was inspired by the intense heat of summer 2018, showing temporary architectures like treehouses and beehives as symbols of alternative, grounded forms of civilization.
A Contemporary Voice Engaging with the Past
Andreas Glad stands out in contemporary Swedish art for his unique combination of realistic painting and existential reflection, where meticulously constructed model worlds become poetic meditations on absence, fragility, and resilience.