Self collected beach sand from the Pacific coast of Mexico, cotton, pva, water, staples and aluminium strecher

Magnus Vatvedt's sand paintings immediately appear as abstract, gestural paintings. Thick coats of light and dark mass are distributed over the canvas fabric with a thick brush or wide spatula. This expression is nevertheless more charged than at first glance, as the canvas is not painted with paint, but place-specific sand from beaches and places around the world, obtained by the artist himself. Where it comments on both the painting's history as a personal document and a valuable object, these works can at the same time be interpreted as an essential expression of an escapist attitude on the part of the artist. With reference to countless beaches, one can imagine hot days in the sand, stunned by festivities and the search for the meaning of life where one looks beyond endless waves that flow in over the feet.

Vatvedt's paintings are about both philosophical and existential questions, but also the physical properties of the sand in art, both visually and tactilely. The paintings with sand ask an interesting visual question of what they are - as the works are both abstract and realistic at the same time.