STORY-TRÅD·noje

Inside Yung Lean’s Art Exhibition

SummaryJonatan Leandoer Håstad, AKA Yung Lean, unveils his first major exhibition, 'Collected Works 2016-2026,' at Torsgatan 22 in Stockholm, SwedenOn through October 11, the show features a massive collection of artworks created over the last decade, many of them being shown for the first timeThe multi-hyphenate discusses his history with visual art and the parallels between his contemporary art and music practice in a recent interview with ArtsyGraffiti, not music, was Jonatan Leandoer Håstad’s “first big love.” He became obsessed with it at age 11, per a recent interview with Artsy, and predating the Swedish rap phenom the world now knows as Yung Lean, was Håstad under the moniker Verp, a then-13-year-old who, long before his ties to Sad Boys or Drain Gang, rolled with Hanoi street art collective fewcrew.All these years on, Håstad’s ascent to music stardom never actually stopped him from making art. Save for a four-piece showcase at Stockholm’s Carl Kostyál in 2016 and the elusive post from the studio here and there, he’s kept his visual practice largely in the shadows. And deliberately so. Being hesitant to professionalize this facet of his artistry, he said, was his way of keeping it “pure.”But with Collected Works 2016-2026, his first major exhibition, Håstad’s finally ready to bring his art out of the dark. A hoard of paintings, collages, sculptures, drawings, dioramas, and scenic installations has hit Torsgatan 22, the former Stockholm Gasworks, many of which are shown for the first time, making for a fully immersive entry into his visual practice. Those that can’t make the trek to Sweden, worry not; you can explore (and digitally tag) the exhibition via a virtualized version.Also premiering is Slåtter, a new short film executive-produced by and starring Håstad, which can be peeped from holes in the cement wall before it. Inspired by the fantastical and sometimes frightening figures of Swedish folklore, his mother’s cottage, alongside the work of illustrators John Bauer and Elsa Beskow, the film reimagines the strange encounters Håstad had in Sweden’s forests as a child.A lot can change in a decade. While 2016 was his first public outing as a visual artist, it was also around this time that he started taking more creative risks, experimenting with acrylic, oils, oil sticks, ceramics, video, and large-scale work.“I worry less,” he explained. “I care less about what other people think.”Håstad arrives in the wake of a growing list of rappers making their way into the art world. But unlike Ferg’s Darold Brown debut or Kid Cudi as Scotty Ramon at Ruttkowski;68 in Paris, there’s something preferably unpolished about this show. The rich hues laid down in thick lines in “Perfekt Dejt” (2025); the bubbled grin fashioned on “El Jefe" (2022), a clown-like ceramic figure. The compositions, be it a painting (likened to, in his words, “caveman shit”) or a sculpture, all of it feels raw with surely no shortage of color. It’s an anti-technique technique, reminiscent of a younger Håstad rapping about Pokémon and Arizona Iced Tea, who, at the time, no one knew how to take seriously.“I entered the music world without a record label or management,” he said. “We just uploaded things online, and it was a bit of a ‘fuck you’ to the music industry.” Collected Works 2016-2026 follows suit.A handful of works, mostly sculptures, will later be sold through the auction house Bukowskis. But beyond that, no gallerists nor curators were directly involved. Instead, a majority of the exhibition comes courtesy of those near and dear to him. He shared a painting studio with Benjamin Reichwald, better known as Bladee, for three years, and Kaj Lindhé Gimdal, a longtime friend, assisted with curation. The goal is to inspire young artists to do the same, he explained, not to make himself a market name.With Collected Works 2016-2026, the (literally) smashing success of his Damien Jalet-choreographed “STORM II” performance at the VMAs, and his Sacrifice set to hit Netflix this month, we’re in for a new era of Yung Lean, the musician and unmasked as Håstad, ready to show the world the full breadth of his artistry.Collected Works 2016-2026 is now on view until October 11 in Stockholm, Sweden.Click here to view full gallery at Hypebeast