Jan Rydén is a painter who also has a text-based practice. He mixes painting, writing, artistic research and activism. His paintings often contain a playful double coding.
Jan Rydén lives and works in Stockholm. He has studied at the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm (2002-2008), as well as the architecture program at the Royal Institute of Art.
He is the initiator and one of the four participants of the artistic research project Thinking Through Painting (2009- ongoing). The other participants are Kristina Bength, artist, Jonatan Habib Engqvist, curator, and Sigrid Sandström, artist. It was exhibited at Konsthall C 2011 and will be presented in a forthcoming publication 2012. The project is supported by the Royal Institute of Art (Kungl. Konsthögskolan).
Jan Rydén is one of three founders of Projekt Reko (2007-2011), www.projektreko.org, which investigates art as an occupation. It publicizes the working conditions for artists at Swedish art institutions. The project has published two reports, ranking lists and seals of approval.
He has also exhibited and organized seminars at Art Program Nordic Architecture Fair (2011) with Peder Wennersten, at Konsthall C (2011, 2010), at Jakobsbergs konsthall (2009), The house of culture/Kulturhuset in Stockholm, the University park in Linköping and Fredsgatan 12 (2008). He participated in FUTURUM 2008, Galleri Operating Place, Horror Vacui, at the Royal Institute, Stockholm (2006). Solo exhibitions: ”An Inquiry into the Nature of Plastic Idols”, MFA Show, Galleri Mejan, Stockholm (2008), ”Idyll”, Galleri Mejan, Stockholm (2005)
In collections: Järfälla kommun, Universitetsparken, Linköpings University, Project for Tensta allé, with Ulrika Wachtmeister, Tensta, TenstaBo 06.
Selected publications: ”Leidsche Rijn Re-visited: Et in Arcadia Ego” i Cinema Studio, Ed. Apolonija Sustersic, 2009. ”Vita kilar” (with Martin Karlsson) i ”Skräpgrönt”, Ed. Markus Degerman, 2007 and ”Wandering about, Drifting” in ”Shifting boundaries” Ed. Regina Möller, 2006.
