GalleryLab is a new venue for contemporary art – a place where new ideas meet established actors on Oslo’s art scene. On this occasion, Mesén acts as both collaborator and curator. With more than 25 years of experience working with art in public spaces, Mesén has a long-standing relationship with Shwan Dler Qaradaki through various projects. We are delighted by the collaboration with Mesén and especially pleased that Qaradaki is being presented in this beautiful and thought-provoking exhibition.

Fragrant Deception consists of twelve drawings measuring 136 × 95 cm, executed on coarse watercolor paper mounted on aluminum panels.

At first glance, the motifs appear seductive and beautiful, with their strong colors and recognizable imagery of, among other things, garlic and mustard flowers and apple trees in full bloom. For Shwan Dler Qaradaki, however, these images do not represent the flowers themselves, but rather the memories associated with them—memories rooted in deep personal and cultural experiences and tragic events in recent history.

The motifs become visual means of processing experiences that cannot be reduced to pure, decorative botanical imagery. In this way, the artist employs a classical, decorative aesthetic to illuminate complex themes related to collective trauma and memory.

Around the flowers, the artist has drawn multiple layers of lines that create depth and a dynamic atmosphere, as if the air itself is vibrating. At the same time, the powdery qualities of the oil pastel lend a tactile sensitivity—almost dusty up close, mottled from a distance. While the flower buds in the foreground appear like small treasures one could hold in the hand, the subtle shifts in the background suggest that something is not quite right: liquids separating, particles suspended in the air.

Shwan Dler Qaradaki (b. 1977, Kurdistan) was educated at the College of Fine Arts in Sulaimani, Kurdistan (Iraq), and at the Oslo National Academy of the Arts, where he also holds a PhD from the Department of Art and Craft. He has held numerous solo and group exhibitions nationally and internationally and has toured with The Cultural Schoolbag program in several Norwegian counties.

The works were first exhibited at Bærum Kunsthall in 2024.