20160213

Contemporary art galleries on Hudiksvallsgatan

Hudiksvallsgatan is Stockholm's answer to Chelsea in New York, if of much smaller scale, attracting several contemporary art galleries to the Industricentralen, a former industrial complex designed by Ragnar Östberg (the architect of Stockholm's City Hall) in 1937. Since contemporary art is a hit-and-miss affair, touring several galleries at the same location is an essential risk-hedging strategy. In this sense, Hudiksvallsgatan, a 10 minute walk north from S:t Eriksplan metro station, is an attractive destination for contemporary art lovers in Stockholm.

Most galleries are open between 11 am to 6 pm from Tuesday to Friday and between noon to 4 pm on Saturday. If it's Sunday or Monday today, don't go to the area because there is nothing else than art galleries.

Some of the galleries are a bit hard to locate for the first-time visitors. Below I explain how to visit the galleries in this area.

From S:t Eriksplan metro station, walk along S:t Eriksgatan to the north. Once you arrive at the roundabout (Vanadisplan), turn left to get into Gävlegatan. Then turn right at the first corner. Now you are on Hudiksvallsgatan. The first gallery you will see on your left is Galerie Nordenhake (Hudiksvallsgatan 8). This Swedish gallery with its branch in Berlin tends to exhibit art works that are more or less simple to understand (in my view).

Immediately to the right of Galerie Nordenhake is the door (with number 8) to the staircase for Christian Larsen, formerly known as AEREA (on the 1st floor). This gallery tends to display a grotesque (to my eyes) type of art. Further upstairs is Andréhn-Schiptjenko (on the 2nd floor), which is in my personal view the best contemporary art gallery in Stockholm, showcasing quite eccentric but good pieces of art works in a well-designed space.

After leaving Andréhn-Schiptjenko, do not go down back to the ground floor but open the door before reaching the first floor. This takes you to the parking yard and on your right sits Galleri Andersson/Sandström at Hudiksvallsgatan 6.

When you are back to Hudiksvallsgatan, keep walking to the east. On your left is Nau Gallery at 4B. Then turn left at the end of the street. At the corner is Cecilia Hillström Gallery and next to it sits Galleri Flach.

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