EXHIBITIONS

Drawings and paintings by Hans Sandberg 

The exhibition features drawings and paintings by Danish artist Hans Sandberg (1950-2016) that depict, in the most candid and captivating way, a life of schizophrenia, anxiety, and loneliness. Comprised of frank autobiographical motifs, the artworks also point toward a universal human need to express oneself and to feel understood by others.  

 

Thoughts and feelings can often be difficult to explain in words, especially when one is living with a stigmatized mental illness that others have a hard time comprehending. For Hans Sandberg, as for many others, art offered a way to communicate with and create connections to other people. Having art play such a crucial role in his life made him a prolific artist, whose artworks have found their way into collections such as The Royal Collection of Graphic Art at the National Gallery of Denmark.

Hans Sandberg used a combination of ink pens, markers, and watercolors to create his elaborate drawings, which are characterized by their dreamlike compositions and recurring depictions of demons and surreal figures, self-portraits, religious symbols, and psychedelic scenes. The artworks provide an honest glimpse into the artist’s inner world, which, on the surface, can seem unfamiliar or frightening, yet is actually marked by thoughts and feelings that many of us can relate to.

 

GAIA Museum would like to extend a sincere thank you to curator Pernille Harbo Caspersen for making the exhibition possible and to Hans’s family Nina Hestbæk Petersen og Frans Petersen for their goodwill.