Reality or fantasy? What is the difference between fantasy and fact, between night and day, between torment and transports of delight?

Yrjö Edelmann's pictures are frequently located in the territory between dream and experience, in a vacuum where the eye wanders through a labyrinth of almost infinite proportions.

For centuries artists have endeavoured to delude the eye of the observer by conjuring forth a trompe-l'oeil image. And so too does Edelmann, with his wrinkled wrapping paper - storm-tossed seas that may just as readily be clouds sailing through a clear blue sky, or mysteriously undulating packages.

Ever since he stepped onto the stage as a thirty-something artist, Yrjö Edelmann has devoted himself to oil painting and graphic art. More recently his works have caught the eye of both public and critics, not only here at home in Sweden, but abroad as well, with exhibitions in New York, Tokyo and Paris. Since 1976 his works have been on display continuously in the USA.

Yrjö Edelmann was born in 1941 and moved from Helsinki in Finland to Sweden with his family ten years later. He started to draw at an early age, initially in comic strip magazines, and worked for many years as an illustrator with the publishers Åhlén & Åkerlund in Stockholm. While there he produced several book covers and other works in the magazine genre. Towards the end of the 1950s he studied freehand drawing at the University College of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm.
Influenced by French surrealism with its irrational, dreamlike motifs, he developed his own pictorial language and also experimented with hyperrealism before becoming increasingly engrossed in his packages, wrapping paper and pieces of string.
His paintings play with shape and shade, with proportions and the properties of colour. His creations challenge our senses, capturing the sensation of hovering between what truly exists and what is merely the shadow of a dream.

-Johan Persson

 

Yrjö Edelmann
Born 1941 in Helsinki, Finland

Selected exhibitions:
2010
Galleri GKM Siwert Bergström, Malmö, Sweden
Craighead & Green Gallery, Dallas, USA
Kalmar Slott (Castle of Kalmar) , Sweden
Galleri Bergström , Båstad, Sweden
Galerie Jane Griffiths, Val d'Isère, France
Jasmine Fine Art Gallery, Singapore
1021 Designcenter AB, Löderup, Sweden
Galleri GKM Siwert Bergström, Art Anglais, Stockholm, Sweden

2009
Galleri Victoria, Halmstad, Sweden
Konstgalleri Vättern, Motala, Sweden
Galleri Bergström, Båstad, Sweden
Galleri GKM Siwert Bergström, Art Paris, France
Galleri Bergström, Jönköping, Sweden
Galleri Backlund, Göteborg, Sweden
Steninge Slott Kulturcenter, Märsta, Sweden
2008
Gallery Luc Pieters, Knokke-Heist, Belgium
Galleri Bergström, Båstad, Sweden
Galleri Strand, Borgholm, Sweden
Galleri GKM Siwert Bergström, Malmö, Sweden
2007 Galleri Bronda, Helsinki, Finland
Edsvik Art Hall, "Retrospectiv" Sollentuna, Sweden
Galleri Bergström, Båstad, Sweden
Galleri Strand, Borgholm, Sweden
Craighead & Green Gallery, Dallas, USA
Hooks- Epstein Galleries, Houston, USA
2006 Galleri GKM Siwert Bergström, ArtParis, Paris, France
Galleri GKM Siwert Bergström, Malmö, Sweden
2005 The second International Beijing Art Bienale, China
Galleri GKM Siwert Bergström, Art Paris, France
Galleri Strand, Borgholm, Sweden
Lilian Heidenberg Gallery, New York, USA
Craighead & Green Gallery, Dallas, USA
2004 Galleri Smedbyn, Huskvarna, Sweden
Galleri GKM Siwert Bergström, Art Paris, France
Hooks- Epstein Galleries, Houston, USA
Gallerie Alan Blondel, Paris, France
Craighead. Green Gallery, Dallas, USA
Russeck Gallery, West Palm Beach, USA
2003 Galleri Bronda, Helsinki, Finland
Galleri Strand, Borgholm, Sweden
Galleri GKM Siwert Bergström, Malmö, Sweden
Swedish Embassy, Tokyo, Japan
Gallery Kato, Tokyo, Japan
Galleri Infra, Upplans-Väsby, Sweden
2002 Hooks- Epstein Galleries, Houston, USA
Galleri Bergman, Stockholm, Sweden
Falsterbo Art Hall, Sweden
2001 Gallerie Alan Blondel, Paris, France
Galleri Bronda, Helsinki, Finland
Steninge Palace, Stockholm, Sweden
Craighead. Green Gallery, Dallas, USA
2000 Falsterbo Art Hall, Sweden
Gallerie S, Östersund, Sweden
Theo Waddington Gallery, Boca Raton, USA
1999 Hooks- Epstein Galleries, Houston, USA
Galleri Bergman, Stockholm, Sweden
Galleri Bronda, Helsinki, Finland
1998 Hooks- Epstein Galleries, Houston, USA
Embassy of Sweden, Washington, USA
1994 Waddington and Corse Gallery, Montreal, Canada
Galleri Bronda, Helsinki, Finland
Lillian Heidenberg Gallery, New York, USA
1993 Swedish Embassy, Tokyo, Japan
Galleri Kaj Forsblom, Åbo, Finland
Galleri Forsblom, Helsinki, Finland
1992 Lillian Heidenberg Gallery, New York, USA
Posner Gallery, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
Galerie Marie-Louise Müller, Lormondréche, Switzerland
1991 Galleri Bronda, Helsinki, Finland
Galleri Åkerlundh, Lund, Sweden
Galerie Moliére, Brussels, Belgium
1990 Galerie Marie-Louise Müller, Lormondréche, Switzerland
Galleri Bronda, Helsinki, Finland
Galleri Arte Viva, Oskarshamn, Sweden
Marjorie Kauffman Galleries, Houston, Texas, USA
1989 Lillian Heidenberg Gallery, New York, USA
Galleri Danielson, Borgholm, Sweden
Galleri Kråkeslätt, Bromölla, Sweden
1988 Lillian Heidenberg Gallery, New York, USA
Marjorie Kauffman Galleries, Palm Springs, California, USA
1987 Lillian Heidenberg Gallery, New York, USA
Galleri Danielson, Borgholm, Sweden
Galleri Bronda, Helsinki, Finland
1986 Posner Gallery, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
Marjorie Kauffman Galleries, Houston, Texas, USA
Elaine Horwitch Galleries, Palm Springs, California, USA
1985 Lillian Heidenberg Gallery, New York, USA
Galleri Danielson, Borgholm, Sweden
Galleri Bronda, Helsinki, Finland
1984 Marjorie Kauffman Galleries, Houston, Texas, USA
1983 Lillian Heidenberg Gallery, New York, USA
Elaine Horwitch Galleries, Scottsdale, Arizona, USA
Galleri Bronda, Helsinki, Finland
1982 Galerie Leger, Malmö, Sweden
Blekinge Museum, Karlskrona, Sweden
Galleri Danielson, Borgholm, Sweden
1981 Galeria de Arte Maxicano, Mexico City
Lillian Heidenberg Gallery, New York, USA
Marjorie Kauffman Galleries, Houston, Texas, USA
1980 Galerie Moos, Calgary & Toronto, Canada
Elaine Horwitch Galleries, Scottsdale, Arizona, USA
Galerie Leger, Malmö, Sweden
1979 Grafikhuset Futura, Stockholm, Sweden
Galeria de Arte Maxicano, Mexico City
Lillian Heidenberg Gallery, New York, USA
1978 Galerie Leger, Malmö, Sweden
Galerie Gabriele von Loeper, Hamburg, Germany
1977 Kalmar Konstmuseum, Sweden
Lillian Heidenberg Gallery, New York, USA
1976 Galerie Leger, Malmö, Sweden
1975 Galleri Renée & Victor, Stockholm, Sweden
1973 Galerie Löwenadler, Stockholm, Sweden

Represented:
(selection)
Moderna Museum, Utrecht, Holland
International Paper Company, New York, USA
McDonald´s Corporation, Oakbrook, Illinois, USA
The Denver Art Museum, Colorado, USA
Denver University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA
Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, USA
Honolulu Academy of Arts, Honolulu, USA
University of Texas, Austin, USA
San Fransisco Museum of Modern Art, USA
Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Modern Art, USA
Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
Malmö Museum, Sweden
Kalmar Museum, Sweden
The Brooklyn Museum, New York, USA
Philip Morris Incorporated, New York, USA
Architectural Digest, Los Angeles, USA
Koch Industries, Wichita, Kansas, USA
Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio, USA
Fred Weissman Collection, California, USA
Sparbankernas Bank, Stockholm, Sweden
Swedish Royal Family Private Collection
McLaren Collection, London, England
Alain Prost Collection, Switzerland
SAS/Art Collection, Stockholm, Sweden
Swedish Parliament Collection, Stockholm, Sweden
Paper Machinery, USA
Wallenius Shipping Line, Stockholm, Sweden
The Barbara and Buddy Amos Collection, Tucson, Arizona, USA