Ekström, Almeida and garcia: In Dialogue at Galerie Nordenhake
For Gallery Weekend Stockholm, Galerie Nordenhake presents a group exhibition bringing together the practices of Thea Ekström, Ana Cláudia Almeida, and ektor garcia.
This weekend, Galerie Nordenhake opens a group exhibition in which the works of the groundbreaking Swedish artist Thea Ekström are put in dialogue with those of Brazilian artist Ana Cláudia Almeida and US artist ektor garcia. Under the title “Mark Makers”, the artists collectively explore themes of memory, materiality, and transformation.
The ghostlike quality of Thea Ekström’s (1920-1988) works, with their organic shapes and dreamlike symbolism, inspired by both hellish and paradisiacal undertones, creates a world of signs and figures. Ekström’s unique artistry broadens the idea of Swedish surrealism. Although celebrated and exhibited during her lifetime, Galerie Nordenhake wishes to give Ekström the recognition she deserves for the complexity and significance of her work within Swedish art from the mid-20th century.
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Thea Ekström, 9 V 72 (1972). Photo by Viktor Sjödin, courtesy of Galerie Nordenhake. -
Thea Ekström, Detail of 9 V 72 (1972). Photo by Viktor Sjödin, courtesy of Galerie Nordenhake. -
Thea Ekström, detail 19 VII 66, (1966). Photo by Viktor Sjödin, courtesy of Galerie Nordenhake
Ana Cláudia Almeida (b. 1993) draws on her upbringing in Rio de Janeiro, where landscape and atmosphere inform her paintings and sculptural surfaces. Her works are defined by tactility and the manipulation of materials such as oil stick, fabric, plastic, paint, and pigment. Through layering and gesture, she resists rigidity, allowing the process to remain open and responsive. Traces of her physical engagement linger on the surface, turning the act of making into a record of memory, presence, and time.
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Ana Cláudia Almeida, 'Mouth Watering' (2025). Photo by Viktor Sjödin. Courtesy of Galerie Nordenhake -
Ana Cláudia Almeida, 'Whirlwind' (2025). Photo by Viktor Sjödin. Courtesy of Galerie Nordenhake
In ektor garcia’s (b. 1985) material practice, tactile sculptures emerge from influences rooted in his Mexican heritage, and his works explore themes of gendered and racialised labour while questioning ideas of fixed identity. Using materials such as wire, metal, glass, clay, horsehair, seashells, and leather, garcia draws on traditional Mexican craft techniques such as weaving, crocheting, and knotting to create objects that shift between softness and hardness, fragility and strength.
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ektor garcia, cadena perpetua II, (2018). Terracotta, copper wire, rubber, steel. Courtesy of Galerie Nordenhake -
ektor garcia, arabesque, (2019). Glazed terracotta. Courtesy of Galerie Nordenhake
His process is ongoing and cyclical; the works are never truly complete but can be reshaped, reassembled, or extended over time. Through this continual evolution, movement and memory remain central, and an artwork once seen may reappear as part of a new constellation.
Together, the three artists approach material as both language and memory. Whether through Ekström’s surrealist imagery, Almeida’s tactile surfaces, or garcia’s mutable forms, each explores how matter can record gesture, transformation, and time – revealing the quiet, persistent dialogue between creation and remembrance. For those who want to learn more, Ana Claudia Almeida will be in conversation with Emily Fahlén, curator at MINT, on the occasion of Gallery Weekend, on Saturday 8 November at 12:00.