Tom Hedqvist | Signaler

Tom Hedqvist is known to many as one of Sweden's foremost graphic designers and as a co-founder of the pioneering designer collective Ten Swedish Designers. A fascination for stripes has marked his work for decades.

This is how Tom Hedqvist describes the exhibition in his own words: "During the summer of 2020, the streets of Stockholm were still and empty, especially in the weekends. A warm Sunday afternoon, I noticed a signal flag in an open window across mine. Half yellow, half blue. I looked up the meaning of it – 'I wish to communicate with you'. When I looked out the window again, the flag had disappeared, and it didn't come back. Did I really see it, or did I just yearn for this message?"

In the midst of the pandemic, the event made a special impact and thus became the source of inspiration for a series of sketches influenced by the international maritime flag system. Since graphical signs attract our attention, the significance of the flag as a medium for communication and identity comes to mind. The works have a direct expression, whilst their message remains unknown.

Tom Hedqvist is educated at Beckmans College of Design and is a co-founder of the designer collective Ten Swedish Designers. He has previously been appointed as Professor of Graphical Design at the University of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm (Konstfack), artistic director of Orrefors Glassworks, headmaster of Beckmans College of Design and museum director of Röhsska Museet in Gothenburg. His works have been exhibited at Nordiska museet, Waldemarsudde, Millsegården, Röhsska Museet and most recently in the two-person exhibition "Rooms, pictures, stripes", also featuring works by Ingela Håkansson Lamm, at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in 2020. Tom Hedqvist is represented at Nationalmuseum, Nordiska museet, Röhsska Museet and Textilmuseet in Borås.