Observation becomes presence, and perception drifts toward reverie.
The Rose Window takes its title from a poem by Rainer Maria Rilke, written during his formative years in Paris under the influence of Auguste Rodin. Rodin taught Rilke to look at the world with uncompromising attention — to see objects not as symbols but as living presences, carriers of inner life. This idea forms the conceptual foundation of the exhibition.
In this spirit, Alexander Skats turns to the still-life tradition, revealing the divine latent within the ordinary. Drawing inspiration from Cy Twombly’s photographic series The Rose — itself a dialogue with Rilke — as well as Gerhard Richter’s floral and cloud paintings and the intimate still lifes of Henri Fantin-Latour and Édouard Manet, Skats extends a lineage of painters who transform observation into revelation.
His works begin not in symbolism but in the immediacy of domestic space: casual evening photographs taken at home — a flower on a table, a dim corner, the hush of night. Through cropping, erasure, and painterly translation, these fragments of daily life are slowed, suspended, and distilled. The paintings invite the viewer to dwell on a singular subject, allowing attention to deepen into a quiet form of catharsis.
Though rooted in photography, Skats’s work foregrounds the tactile vitality of paint. Surface becomes atmosphere, observation becomes presence, and perception drifts toward reverie. With The Rose Window, Skats offers a meditation on looking — how a fleeting glance can become a pull, and how the simplest image can draw us into something vast, contemplative, and quietly transcendent.
Alexander Skats (b. 1986, Gothenburg) is a Swedish painter based in Malmö whose practice explores how digital-age image circulation shapes memory and desire. Working primarily in oil, he draws from online archives, film stills, and everyday encounters to create compositions that hover between recognition and ambiguity. His works transform fleeting visual impressions into intimate, contemplative scenes.
In this spirit, Alexander Skats turns to the still-life tradition, revealing the divine latent within the ordinary. Drawing inspiration from Cy Twombly’s photographic series The Rose — itself a dialogue with Rilke — as well as Gerhard Richter’s floral and cloud paintings and the intimate still lifes of Henri Fantin-Latour and Édouard Manet, Skats extends a lineage of painters who transform observation into revelation.
His works begin not in symbolism but in the immediacy of domestic space: casual evening photographs taken at home — a flower on a table, a dim corner, the hush of night. Through cropping, erasure, and painterly translation, these fragments of daily life are slowed, suspended, and distilled. The paintings invite the viewer to dwell on a singular subject, allowing attention to deepen into a quiet form of catharsis.
Though rooted in photography, Skats’s work foregrounds the tactile vitality of paint. Surface becomes atmosphere, observation becomes presence, and perception drifts toward reverie. With The Rose Window, Skats offers a meditation on looking — how a fleeting glance can become a pull, and how the simplest image can draw us into something vast, contemplative, and quietly transcendent.
Alexander Skats (b. 1986, Gothenburg) is a Swedish painter based in Malmö whose practice explores how digital-age image circulation shapes memory and desire. Working primarily in oil, he draws from online archives, film stills, and everyday encounters to create compositions that hover between recognition and ambiguity. His works transform fleeting visual impressions into intimate, contemplative scenes.
Skats studied at Umeå Academy of Fine Arts (MFA) and Valand Academy in Gothenburg (BFA). He exhibits internationally, with recent projects in Rome, Paris, Brussels, Hong Kong, Copenhagen, and Stockholm, and his works are held in major public and private collections including the Swedish Arts Council, Volvo Art Collection, SAS Art Collection, and SEB Art Collection.
