The Swedish artistic duo of Ambassador Lars Vargo and his wife, textile artist Eva, have teamed up for a joint exhibition titled “Through your Eyes.”
This is not the first time the artists have shown their work in Seoul.
Vargo displayed his painting skills during his solo exhibition “MindSpace” last year while Eva has participated in many solo and group exhibitions in Korea, Sweden, Japan and Lithuania.
In paintings as in poetry, Lars wishes to “catch the moment” by sketching life such as an atmosphere created by an approaching thunderstorm, a humorous situation created by the combination of reality and fantasy, or the emotion found in accidental experimenting with colors and motifs.
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Swedish Ambassador Lars Vargo and his wife Eva. (Yoav Cerralbo/The Korea Herald) |
On the other hand, Eva mainly shows her paper weavings and linen necklaces that are made with leftover warp threads from her paper weavings.
One of Eva’s working philosophies is to turn her works into a sustainable life circle.
“The circle of life is a recurrent theme for me,” she said.
In this exhibition, the full-time ambassador, part-time artist is presenting 30 paintings.
While serious about their work, their art and the humanitarian assistance they take part in, the Vargos have a refreshing sense of humor rarely seen in high-powered diplomatic circles.
“After 10 p.m. and in the morning I introduce myself to my wife,” jokes Vargo when asked about finding time for each other.
“Instead of nagging at each other we can be creative together. We also critique each other’s works and help come up with ideas and inspire each other,” he adds.
When meeting the Vargos, you automatically get the impression that they spend all their available artistic time together.
“I pushed him out,” she joked when asked if they share the same work space.
Her husband retorted: “She has three rooms, I have no rooms.”
For the ambassador, working on his art and poetry relaxes him after a hard day at the office.
The same goes for Eva whose artistic process is a kind of meditation because of the slow and careful method of putting together her creations.
The exhibition runs until May 27 at the 123 Galley in Cheongdam-dong.
For information about the gallery, call (02) 3445-5123.
By Yoav Cerralbo (
yoav@heraldcorp.com)
