Jacob Dahlgren

Overview
View works. Jacob Dahlgren, Not and Or 25, 2019
Not and Or 25, 2019
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Jacob Dahlgren’s practice engages in a sustained dialogue between the authoritative singularity of formal abstraction and its circulation within a complex, shared social reality. Through repetitive accumulations of ubiquitous, often domestically or industrially manufactured objects, Dahlgren constructs works that operate as contemporary proxies for High Modernist abstract painting and the ideological terrain claimed by twentieth-century art theory. While these forms recall the visual language of abstraction, the individual components retain their status as everyday commodities—objects shaped by personal choice, use, and consumption. Collectively, they come to signify a communal or social body, shifting authorship from the singular artist toward a more democratic, collective model. This dynamic is central to Dahlgren’s social practice, which includes performance-based projects realized in collaboration with local communities worldwide, as well as the large-scale public installations for which he is widely recognized. In both contexts, abstraction is repositioned as a lived and shared experience, grounded in the rhythms of everyday life.
 
The integration of art and daily existence is a foundational principle of Dahlgren’s work. He consistently identifies geometric and abstract structures within the surrounding world, transforming the mundane and the quotidian into systems of visual order. This approach extends directly into his personal life. Since the late 1990s, Dahlgren has worn striped T-shirts daily as part of his ongoing project Peinture Abstraite, which he conceives as a lifelong, living exhibition. The project is periodically framed by invited curators, underscoring its conceptual openness and durational nature.
 
Born in 1970 in Stockholm, where he lives and works, Dahlgren received his MFA from the Royal College of Art in 1999. His work has been presented internationally in major institutions, including Trondheim Kunstmuseum; Stavanger Kunstmuseum; Copenhagen Contemporary; Museum Ritter, Waldenbuch; Le Magasin – Centre National d’Art Contemporain, Grenoble; KIASMA Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki; Henry Art Gallery, Seattle; Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona; Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt; and Moderna Museet, Stockholm. In 2007, he represented Sweden at the 52nd Venice Biennale.
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Exhibitions
Installation shots
Works
  • Constructing a New World 2
    Jacob Dahlgren
    Constructing a New World 2, 2024
  • Constructing a New World 5
    Jacob Dahlgren
    Constructing a New World 5, 2024
  • Constructing a New World 9
    Jacob Dahlgren
    Constructing a New World 9, 2024
  • Constructing a New World 11
    Jacob Dahlgren
    Constructing a New World 11, 2024
  • Constructing a New World 16
    Jacob Dahlgren
    Constructing a New World 16, 2024
  • Constructing a New World 19
    Jacob Dahlgren
    Constructing a New World 19, 2024
  • Constructing a New World 27
    Jacob Dahlgren
    Constructing a New World 27, 2024
  • Constructing a New World 28
    Jacob Dahlgren
    Constructing a New World 28, 2024
  • Heaven is a Place on Earth
    Jacob Dahlgren
    Heaven is a Place on Earth, 2021
  • Units of Measurements (Triangle)
    Jacob Dahlgren
    Units of Measurements (Triangle), 2021
  • Units of Measurements (Wave)
    Jacob Dahlgren
    Units of Measurements (Wave), 2021
  • I, the World, Things, Life
    Jacob Dahlgren
    I, the World, Things, Life, 2019
  • Not and Or 20
    Jacob Dahlgren
    Not and Or 20, 2019
  • Not and Or 21
    Jacob Dahlgren
    Not and Or 21, 2019
  • Not and Or 23
    Jacob Dahlgren
    Not and Or 23, 2019
  • Not and Or 25
    Jacob Dahlgren
    Not and Or 25, 2019
  • Not and Or 26
    Jacob Dahlgren
    Not and Or 26, 2019
  • Not and Or 27
    Jacob Dahlgren
    Not and Or 27, 2019
  • Not and Or 30
    Jacob Dahlgren
    Not and Or 30, 2019
  • Abstract Space
    Jacob Dahlgren
    Abstract Space, 2019
  • Units of Measurements (I)
    Jacob Dahlgren
    Units of Measurements (I), 2018
  • Third Uncle (Yellow)
    Jacob Dahlgren
    Third Uncle (Yellow), 2016
  • Third Uncle (Orange)
    Jacob Dahlgren
    Third Uncle (Orange), 2016
  • The World of Abstraction, Constructivist Version
    Jacob Dahlgren
    The World of Abstraction, Constructivist Version, 2015
  • Concretists Also Developed Rules for Form and Colour (Green)
    Jacob Dahlgren
    Concretists Also Developed Rules for Form and Colour (Green), 2015
  • Concretists Also Developed Rules for Form and Colour (Yellow)
    Jacob Dahlgren
    Concretists Also Developed Rules for Form and Colour (Yellow), 2015
  • Self-portrait of Inner Turmoil
    Jacob Dahlgren
    Self-portrait of Inner Turmoil, 2014
  • Horizontal Rectangles and the Awareness of Perfection
    Jacob Dahlgren
    Horizontal Rectangles and the Awareness of Perfection, 2014
  • Work as Method
    Jacob Dahlgren
    Work as Method, 2013
  • Body of Colour
    Jacob Dahlgren
    Body of Colour, 2013
  • Peinture Abstraite
    Jacob Dahlgren
    Peinture Abstraite, 2013
  • Portland 1948
    Jacob Dahlgren
    Portland 1948, 2012
  • Item 15; Subject of Art
    Jacob Dahlgren
    Item 15; Subject of Art, 2012
  • Item 17; Subject of Art
    Jacob Dahlgren
    Item 17; Subject of Art, 2012
  • Item 24; Subject of Art
    Jacob Dahlgren
    Item 24; Subject of Art, 2012
  • Endless Cut
    Jacob Dahlgren
    Endless Cut, 2012
  • Neoconcrete Space
    Jacob Dahlgren
    Neoconcrete Space, 2012
  • Primary Structure
    Jacob Dahlgren
    Primary Structure, 2011
  • I
    Jacob Dahlgren
    I, 2009-2022
  • From Art to Life to Art
    Jacob Dahlgren
    From Art to Life to Art, 2009
  • Caracas 1977
    Jacob Dahlgren
    Caracas 1977, 2008
  • Untitled (2)
    Jacob Dahlgren
    Untitled (2), 2007
  • I, the World, Things, Life
    Jacob Dahlgren
    I, the World, Things, Life, 2007
  • Sydney
    Jacob Dahlgren
    Sydney, 2006
Press
Publications
Events
Art Fairs
Video