What does it mean to come out at a time when homosexuality was classified as a crime? Artists Stuart Mayes and Conny Karlsson Lundgren both work with archives to reinterpret queer historiography. This discussion focuses on the visibility of LGBTQI lives, structures of desire and the role of archives – material that is recoded through artistic and performative interpretations.

This conversation brings together two artistic practices that, in different ways, engage with LGBTQI history, archives and visibility, and with the archive as both a repository of information and a structure of power. Can art create new ways of ‘coming out’ in history? Of making complex life stories visible and legible. The conversation also touches on how homosexuality has historically been defined as a crime or an illness, and what traces this has left in the archives and in today’s public debate.

Stuart Mayes moves between archival research, performance and storytelling in textile spatial installations, often drawing on personal and collective queer experiences. The current exhibition, Following Eugène: A Spring Outing at Uppsala Art Museum centres on the significance and reception of Eugène Jansson’s paintings of nude youths, which premiered in Uppsala in 1907, as well as the radical nature of exhibiting them.

Conny Karlsson Lundgren regularly works with historical archives – photographs, official documents and institutional collections – to highlight how norms surrounding gender and sexuality have been produced and reproduced. In his solo exhibition *Jag kysser dina ögon* at Bonniers Konsthall, he brought queer lives and structures of desire to the fore, whilst also raising questions about class society, norms and discipline. Lundgren is represented in the collections of Moderna Museet and the Gothenburg Museum of Art. In 2023, *Gläntan*, Sweden’s first permanent LGBTQI+ monument, which he produced, was unveiled in Gothenburg.

Tickets

Hospital Studios together with Konstfrämjandet Uppland invite you to visit the studios and meet the artists, writers, and musicians who work there on this informal open studio event.

Everyone is welcome!

For more information visit: Konstfrämjandet Uppland

Welcome to Hospitalet’s Christmas Market!

I will be having an Open Studio where you are very welcome to come say hello, see what I am working on, and enjoy some pre-Christmas cheer!

Selected works will be available to buy – giftwrapping included of course!

Not only will Hospitalet’s artists and writers be opening their studios but the other independent artists, designers and craftspeople in the adjoining building will be opening their doors too. And of course our café will be offering Swedish fika – coffee, tea, and homebaked cakes and pastries including my gluten-free chocolate yule log!

A creative workshops exploring Uppsala’s lgbtqi+ and queer histories. The workshops are part of Stuart Mayes’ on-going project: Following Eugène. The project takes its starting point in the life and works of Swedish artist Eugène Jansson (1862–1915). The latest chapter of the project: A Spring Outing, considers the context and impact of Jansson premiering his male nudes in Uppsala 1907.

The workshops provide space for lgbtqi+ and queer people to investigate the experiences, realities, and fantasies of their lives in contemporary Uppsala.

Open to all who identify as lgbtqi+ and queer, no previous arts experience necessary

Materials provided. No fee

To reserve your place email your name and contact phone number to studio@stuartmayes.com

TIME: 18:00 – 20:00 Tuesday 4, 11, 18, and 25 November

VENUE: The Studio, Uppsala Artists’ Club, Sysslomangatan, 753 10 Uppsala

Supported by Uppsala City Council. In conjunction with Glitter Ball showroom & projects

A series of four creative workshops exploring Uppsala’s lgbtqi+ and queer histories. The workshops are part of Stuart Mayes’ on-going project: Following Eugène. The project takes its starting point in the life and works of Swedish artist Eugène Jansson (1862–1915). The latest chapter of the project: A Spring Outing, considers the context and impact of Jansson premiering his male nudes in Uppsala 1907.

The workshops provide space for lgbtqi+ and queer people to investigate the experiences, realities, and fantasies of their lives in contemporary Uppsala.

Open to all who identify as lgbtqi+ and queer, no previous arts experience necessary

Materials provided. No fee

To reserve your place email your name and contact phone number to studio@stuartmays.com

TIME: 18:00 – 20:00 Tuesday 4, 11, 18, and 25 November

VENUE: The Studio, Uppsala Artists’ Club, Sysslomangatan, 753 10 Uppsala

Supported by Uppsala City Council. In conjunction with Glitter Ball showroom & projects

How does an artist view the work of others? In this special guided tour, artist Stuart Mayes offers his personal perspective on the exhibition Uppländsk salong 2025.

Uppländsk salong is a juried exhibition showcasing contemporary art from the Uppsala region. Seventeen artists with local ties have been selected by curator Peter Bergman, director of Fullersta Gård art gallery. This year’s salon explores the diversity of nature — both around us and within us — through a wide range of media and expressions, including painting, sculpture, textiles, photography, and installation. 

Exhibition runs 13 September 2025 – 11 January 2026 

Price: 50 sek

“In a rapidly tightening spiral of boundless cruelty, senseless killings, and consuming surface-level evil, what helps me stay grounded are true loves, carefully guarded memories of moments of closeness, and sudden flashes of erotic desire. These letters, addressed to my men — separated (or perhaps united) by three decades and three countries — are my attempt to catch hold of a kite strong enough to pull me out of the cold and grim madness that the newsfeed keeps dragging me and my loved ones into.”

You are warmly invited to Love Letters, a performance by Pavel Matveyev, on August 1st at 18:00.

Pavel is a multidisciplinary artist. He graduated from the Faculty of Journalism at Moscow State University, discovered a great range of possibilities working with photography at the University of Brighton, and began experimenting with the interplay of still image and sound while studying at Konstfack in Stockholm. His solo and group exhibitions span Sweden, Spain, Norway, and beyond — including Station to Station (1.) at Molekyl gallery in Malmö earlier this year. He is the initiator of a photo talks series at Interbok independent bookstore and co-host of the podcast Slightly Out of Focus.

The performance will be held in Russian and English, with the English texts read by artist Stuart Mayes.

Pavel's portrait: Pål Sommelius
Stuart's portrait: Daneil Ekbladh

Juxtapose: Think Tanks

I am leading a think tank for exhibitors and participants at Juxtapose where we will consider our relation to social media …

Social Media (So Me) seems to be an essential part of the artists toolkit. Concerns have been raised regarding the significant recent content moderation policy changes that allow users of Facebook and Instagram to say that being, or identifying as, lgbtqi+ is a mental illness. In the light of the general pally-ness between tech-bros and the Trump administration do we need to consider alternatives to the platforms we have become familiar with? What do we do when social media doesn’t reflect our moral codes?

Thank you Juxtapose for opening spaces for thinking through complex topics.

Juxtapose

Can you guess if the guess the gender of the artist from looking at an artwork? What does this say about us, about how we read artworks, and what we expect of artists? Which artists challenge our gender perceptions?

Join Katarina DeVerdier, public arts officer for Uppsala City, and Stuart Mayes, arts officer for Region Uppsala, for a guided walk looking at selected public art works from a gender critical perspective.

A free event organised in collaboration between the public art deparmtents of Uppsala City and Region Uppsala – all welcome!

Meet at The University Hospital, Entrance 100 (Dag Hammarskölds väg)

The walk starts indoors and continues through the city park – dress accordingly.

Wheelchair accessible.

[image: Astrid Göransson, Talende scen (Talking Scene), 2020]

This year I am presenting an exciting programme of Meetings for the fair’s exhibitors and participants. Over three days there are 12 meetings covering topics from virtual studio groups to digital legacies, neurodivergence, and rural residencies. Other meetings investigate if artist-run spaces are becoming conservative, how artists contribute to a town’s identity, and how to develop sustainable collaborations.

Supermarket invites 65 of the most innovative and dynamic artist-run iniatives from across Europe, north and south America, north Africa, and Asia for a week of networking with each other as well as professionals from the Swedish art scene.

From Thursday to Sunday the public are welcome to visit the fair’s exhibition stands, there are also talks and performances throughout the days.

www.supermarketartfair.com

I am excited to be included in Michael Petry’s new book for Thames & Hudson – Mirror Mirror: The Reflective Surface in Contemporary Art

The book surveys more than 150 international contemporary artists who use reflective surfaces as a vehicle for meaning within their practice, including Olafur Eliasson, Frida Escobedo, Ugo Rondinone, Cindy Sherman, Zhan Wang, Subodh Gupta, and Jeff Koons.

Available in UK and Europe from November 2024, USA February 2025

Kick start Uppsala Culture Night at Hospitlet’s Open Studio afternoon!

You are very welcome to come see me in my Uppsala studio where I will be showing new and recent work as well as offering editions and older pieces at special Culture Night prices Together with the other artists, writers, musicians, and ccreators we at Hospitalet invite you to sample some of the best contemporary work to be found in Uppsala.

There is a café with coffee, tea, and homemade cakes and baked goods.

Wheelchair and disabled access in the north corridor.

Culture Night Uppsala 2024

I am delighted to announce that I will be working with Galleri Artem, Stockholm.

This exciting young gallery represents a range of contemporary artists working across painting, drawing, scultpure, installation, and performance. Gallery director Clara Stenqvist has a background in art history as well as working in museums and auction houses.

The gallery is in the Vasastan district of Stockholm, together many other contemporary galleries, restaurants, design shops, and independent retailers.

Galleri Artem

Warm welcome to my Open Studio! As part of the studio association’s Christmas Market I am having an open studio – come and say hello, and see what I have been up to! I will be offering a fayre (!) price on special edition artworks as well as other smaller pieces.

It promises to be a great day with many other artists also opening their studios and offering creative workshops. Café Hospitalet is open from 11.30am with homemade cakes, tea, coffee, and of course mulled wine!

In the beautiful gardens you will find stalls with festive handcrafts, Christmas trees, and foodtrucks

Learn to create geometric sculptures from old, damaged, or abandoned books!

In this workshop you learn how simple folds can turn an old book into a three dimensional sculpture – find your own style and make your own sculpture!

No previous experience necessary, this workshop is suitable for anyone aged 12 and over.

Materials and tution provided

50kr per person

This year Konstdygnet (The Art Day) is happening in Uppsala from 12noon on Thursday 21 through to 12 noon on Friday 22 September. This annual event is an opportunity for artists, artsworkers, arts organisations, and cultural administrators to meet, discuss, and plan as well to to make new contacts, develop networks, and find collaborative partners.

On Thursday afternoon I have an open studio as part of the programme. I will be talking about my studio practice as well as my recent project with Konstframjändet Västmanland.

Konstdygnet

I am one of many artists at The Hospital Studios who is opening their studio as part of Uppsala Culture Night 2023. We are actually open from 12noon until 4pm, from 4.15pm I am running a creative workshop for adults.

The Hospital Studios is Uppsala’s largest studio association providing workspaces for more than 25 visual artists working with painting, sculpture, installation, photography, textile, and performance. There are also a number of studios for writers and musicians. Uppsala’s printworkshop is in the same building and will also be open.

The Hospital Studios