An Artists' Playground

As Matts Leiderstam took students, teachers and staff on a virtual tour of his work, it soon became clear that he doesn't just focus on the image, but loves to get excited about it first to then delve into its meanings and contexts. As he explained it himself, " There are two moods to my work. First, I discover a painting that somehow tickles my interest. Then I want to know more about it and start to research. I'm an artist who plays an art historian."

 

Wether it be landscape paintings he leaves at so-called cruising spots after photographing them there or a broad study of the Düsseldorf Neanderthal valley and all the artists that came to paint it in the 19th century, he always looks for the connections, fusing the images with their surroundings, crafting elaborate exhibitions that invite to take a closer look and then step back to view the whole, as a whole.

After this riveting presentation, the students, especially the ones of his class "Landschaft / Landscape", were seen enthusiastically returning to their work, all the while pondering what they had just listened to. Under these stars we can look forward to an interesting finissage, this much is already certain.                                                                                         mp