Sara Granér / Derail Us from Evil

Sara Granér’s vibrant visual language and her distinctive fable-like creatures have stepped out of her drawings and gathered around an absurdist model railway. Tufted yarn rugs meet welded scrap metal and ceramics in a playful installation that evokes a society seen from above. The exhibition consists mainly of new works.

– I’ve been drawn towards exploring materials and their significance for expression beyond drawing, says Sara Granér. Metal is hard and rigid, while tufted yarn is soft and organic. At the same time, there’s a roughness in the expressions that brings them together and which I think interacts well with the way I draw. My sculptural work is often close to drawing, and tends to have a two-dimensionality of its own.

Playfulness and political gravity
Räls oss ifrån ondo is an exploration of collective experiences, dreams and frustrations linked to the railway, which for Granér can also represent human communication. Why does it have to be so decrepit, and why is booking a ticket so difficult? Where are we heading? The exhibition combines playfulness with political gravity and existential confusion.

– For me, working with a railway has different connotations, Granér says. On the one hand, there’s a natural connection with play, with the model railways and car tracks of childhood, and with the feeling of being able to build your own worlds. On the other hand, I’ve always been fascinated by the collective, by trying to see society as a kind of entity and a common concern, slightly from above or from a distance.

About the artist
Gothenburg-based Sara Granér (b. 1980) is rooted in the world of comics and satire. Her characters grapple with the absurdities of existence in an artistic universe that draws inspiration from underground comics, art brut, surrealism and naivism. She has published seven books, most recently Den sjunde vännen (The Seventh Friend, 2022), and contributes regularly to newspapers and magazines. In 2025, she was awarded the newly established Löken Grant by the Association of Swedish Illustrators and Graphic Designers to finalise her first graphic novel.

The exhibition Sara Granér/ Räls oss ifrån ondo is produced by Bildmuseet and runs from 17 October 2025 to 5 April 2026. Curator: Lisa Lundström.

Exhibition opening
The exhibition opens on Art Friday 17 October, 17:00–24:00. Sara Granér will present her exhibition in conversation with curator Lisa Lundström. The evening includes a drop-in workshop developed in collaboration with Granér and inspired by the exhibition. That same evening also marks the opening of the group exhibition Art and Truth-Telling. Talks, performance, guided tours, DJ, bar and more.

Press preview and press images
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Press images: https://www.bildmuseet.umu.se/en/press/press-images/