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Sleepless Nights

The 1980s in the Moderna Museet Collection

Stockholm, 28.2 2023 – 14.1 2024

In the contradictory 1980s, several remarkable women artists emerged in Sweden and the Nordic region. “Sleepless Nights” revolves around them. The name of this exhibition was inspired by Teresa Wennberg’s large video installation “Nuit Blanche” (1983), incorporating 25 TV screens, a work that epitomises how artists were exploring new media and materials.

The art market was red-hot, the alternative art scene rebelled, the fear of HIV and AIDS was rampant, and the Cold War was coming to an end. This pivotal point between the politicised 1970s and the artistically terser 1990s left its mark on the Moderna Museet collection.

Press release Sleepless Nights

Lipstick and tampon combined
Ingrid Orfali, La Chute d'Ariane, Challenge for bloody bastards, 1986 © Ingrid Orfali Repro photo: Albin Dahlström/Moderna Museet. (The image is slightly cropped.)
Silver dye bleach print (Cibachrome), ink on paper
A room with striped surfaces
Daniel Buren, Cabane éclatée no 9, 1985 © Daniel Buren Photo: Åsa Lundén/Moderna Museet.
Awning fabric mounted on wooden frames, studs
Multiple TV-screens
Teresa Wennberg & Pierre Lobstein, Nuit Blanche, 1983 © Teresa Wennberg Photo: Moderna Museet. Video installation
Hand and groin
Tuija Lindström, The Hand, 1983 © Tuija Lindström. Gelatin silver print, diffused. Repro photo: Moderna Museet
Cabinet with love theme
Kristina Abelli Elander, Love Paradise, 1984 © Kristina Abelli Elander. Photo: Prallan Allsten/Moderna Museet. Painted plywood, wood, light bulbs
Books and guns on a window shelf
Andy Warhol, Books and Guns, 1982‒87 © 2023 Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Repro photo: Albin Dahlström/Moderna Museet .
Gelatin silver prints and thread
Stones
Gunnar Smoliansky, From the series Promenade Pictures, 1986 © Gunnar Smoliansky Foundation Gelatin silver print, contact printing process, toned. Repro photo: Maria Winsö/Moderna Museet
Installation view over the exhibition. Sculptures are placed on a white podium, with two artworks hanging on a white wall in the background.
Installation view Photo: Dustin Montazer/Moderna Museet. In the middle:
Untitled (1989), sculpture, Eva Löfdahl © Eva Löfdahl
Image of a red canvas placed on wooden stands. In he background: chairs, artworks hung on white walls.
Matts Leiderstam, Reconstruction, 1989-2016 Photo: Mattias Lindbäck/Moderna Museet © Matts Leiderstam / Bildupphovsrätt 2023