Looking at art markets, it’s safe to say we live in turbulent yet interesting times in the art world. There are currently more young artists and galleries than ever before. As reported by Zachary Small and Julia Halperin in the New York Times article published August 8, 2024 (enclosed below) the early pandemic saw a huge short-sighted speculative boom in artists born after 1974 at auction. This boom has already gone bust, and auction prices have plummeted by almost a third in the said category. Some prices for previously propped up names are even down as much as 90%.

While there are many brilliant young artists producing innovative work, speculation and promotion have too often taken the upper hand before practices have been allowed the time and care to mature and thus be proven to be able to leave a long term mark on contemporary art. This short term understanding of value only serves to hurt both artists and galleries in the long run. In this environment, it has always been the ambition of Carling Dalenson to bring the foremost of long-term established international talent to Stockholm, as well as showcasing a few developing and living practices which we believe will stand the test of time.

Expanding on our philosophy, we now also feel it’s time to open our doors to creators who have made their names in other related crafts. This season 2024/2025 we will therefore be presenting works by two internationally renowned masters in their respective fields; fashion designer Lars Nilsson and architect Thomas Sandell. It is our hope to give two great craftsmen what we feel is a well-deserved opportunity to also be recognized in the context of contemporary art. The unique sculptural candlesticks and collages of Lars Nilsson (September) and paintings of Thomas Sandell (February) will be shown before and after an exhibition with renowned New York Artist Elliott Puckette.

In 2025/2026 we plan to continue our work with both internationally well-established names such as YBA artists Damien Hirst and Ian Davenport, as well as younger international female talent that we believe has potential for longer term success.

Hope to see you all at Carling Dalenson very soon.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/18/pageoneplus/quotation-of-the-day-young-artists-rode-a-712-million-boom-then-came-the-bust.html