Issa Salliander

Galería Hilario Galguera presents Love on the Record, the first solo show of Issa Salliander (Sweden, 1984) as a Gallery artist.

The exhibition explores the ins and outs of the changing discourse around narrative and female empowerment, through a tour of pieces that the artist creates with a variety of media such as painting, drawing, and screen printing.

The set of works presented, of mixed technique, show the artistic evolution of Salliander, presenting for the first time a series of paintings that incorporate the human figure, accompanied by her characteristic iconography that refers to nature and popular culture.

Canvases with energetic brushstrokes cover the gallery space, creating a visceral, textured depth in each piece that defies conventional perspectives and celebrates the strength of the female silhouette. In the center is the activist and model, Natalie White, a close friend and muse of Salliander, who embodies the strength and freedom that the artist seeks.

Accompanying Natalie in the works are rabbits as symbols, exposing the recurring dichotomies in Salliander's work, contrasting humor and sensuality with vulnerability. The rabbits go beyond their initial references to popular culture, such as Playboy (the magazine for which White has modeled), and assume a unique role, questioning the historical representation of women: vulnerable, but also resilient.

The mixture of techniques and styles in Salliander's paintings creates a break with traditional realism and delves into a personal abstraction, adding both subjectivity and ambiguity to her work. The sensuality of the oil finds resonance with the artist's illustrations and narrative, allowing each viewer to find a divergent interpretation of both the nude body and her zoomorphic representations.

Love on the Record transcends its original context of an intimate memory that embodies friendship, becoming a call to question the progress of gender equality. Highlighting the double standards and unfair expectations that have historically been imposed on women in society, where even the naked body carries different connotations. In the context of art history, the exhibition is a unique exploration of the muse-artist-muse relationship, in which the female body is reappropriated and presented from a female perspective.

Issa Salliander has an MFA from the City & Guilds of London Art School. She has exhibited individually at Galeria Kandlhofer, Vienna, Austria; and at OSL Contemporary, Oslo, Norway. She has participated in group shows such as Faces at Leo Gallery, Shanghai; Kandlhofer Art Collective, Vienna; and Parafin Gallery, London. Her work can be found in prestigious collections such as the Hillman Collection (United States), the Ekeberg Collection, Oslo (Norway), and the Carl Fuss Collection (Austria).

Corresponding to the Love on the Record exhibition, Issa Salliander and Natalie White will be presenting their joint project Virginia Sins, a photographic collaboration that will be found on the sculptural terrace of the Gallery and in the space at i421 Live District, Mexico City.

— Galería Hilario Galguera