Member of the Swedish Gallery Association
Strategic Acquisition — Matthias van Arkel
Within the new headquarters collection, the bank has made a decisive acquisition of two works by Matthias van Arkel: a silicone-based painting and a sculptural work from his Sarcophagus series.
Matthias van Arkel — represented by A Gallery AB — is recognised for his materially rigorous exploration of colour and surface. His practice extends painting into objecthood, where silicone becomes both medium and structure. The works carry weight without heaviness, intensity without noise.
The painting operates through layered chromatic density. Its surface absorbs and reflects light throughout the day, creating a living field within the room. The sculptural work, belonging to the Sarcophagus series, introduces a condensed, architectural presence. These sculptures are not figurative references; they are compact volumes — colour held in form, material under compression.
Both works are installed in the headquarters dining space — the social core of the building. This is where staff meet daily, where internal dialogue happens, and where the bank hosts recurring client and VIP events. The placement is intentional. The works are positioned in the centre of institutional life, not in peripheral or ceremonial zones.
The acquisition signals clarity. It demonstrates trust in contemporary abstraction and in long-term artistic relevance. It also reflects a curatorial decision to integrate represented artists into serious architectural contexts — where light, scale and human presence activate the work fully.
For A Gallery AB, representing van Arkel means precisely this: placing his work where it carries structural and cultural weight. Not as ornament, but as anchor.
These works do not decorate the room.
They define it.