In this episode, Roland-Philippe Kretzschmar of The Art Bystander is honored to have Camilla Engström as guest—an artist whose bold, dreamlike paintings have captured audiences around the world. Born in Örebro and now based in Los Angeles, Camilla has developed a unique visual language where landscapes, flowers, and the female form intertwine—often playful, always deeply connected to nature, and full of vitality.

This September she opens her ninth solo show with Carl Kostyál, Två Hjärtan, at Hospitalet in Stockholm. The exhibition is a true full-circle moment: her very first show with the gallery was also at Hospitalet, back in 2022, and now she returns to the newly restored space as one of their most celebrated artists.

What makes this show especially meaningful is that Camilla is expecting her first child. The works are infused with that experience—pregnancy as transformation, as mystery, as strength. As she herself has said, the presence of the female form is intentional, a way to center and give shape to this life-changing journey. After this exhibition she will take a hiatus, making Två Hjärtan the last chance for audiences to see new work from her for some time.

In today’s conversation we’ll explore her evolution as an artist, the inspirations behind her latest paintings, and how personal transformation is shaping her practice.

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In this episode of The Art Bystander, Roland-Philippe Kretzschmar is joined by Alexandre Diop — one of the most compelling and radical voices in contemporary art.

Born in Paris in 1995 to a Senegalese father and a French mother, Diop lives and works in Vienna. His practice spans painting, sculpture, and assemblage, anchored in what he calls “object-images” — emotionally charged compositions made from discarded doors, rusted metal, fabric, and street debris. His work doesn’t just recycle materials — it resurrects them. Each surface holds a memory, each gesture a call to truth, justice, and spiritual reckoning.

Diop’s art operates in the tradition of Arte Povera, but is equally shaped by his Afro-European roots, Berlin’s rave scene, and Vienna’s expressionist legacy. At once poetic and political, his works are raw, deeply autobiographical, and grounded in the belief that art should speak directly — “from the street, to the street.”

In his most recent exhibition at CFHill in Sweden In Puer Veritas, Diop enters into a bold transgenerational dialogue with Keith Haring’s subway drawings. “In puer veritas” — “in the child lies truth” — becomes a mantra for both artists’ shared commitment to radical honesty, social responsibility, and art as public testimony. Diop paints on abandoned doors as Haring once drew on subway billboards — urgent, unfiltered, and unafraid. As Diop puts it:

“Children don’t judge. They see with clarity. Haring and I create from that place — not just for children, but through them. They inherit the world we paint.”

In 2022, Diop was selected by Kehinde Wiley for the Reiffers Art Initiatives mentorship, leading to major solo exhibitions and a residency at the Rubell Museum. In 2026, he will become the youngest artist ever to have a solo show at Vienna’s Albertina Museum.

This is an artist who doesn’t just challenge the art world — he reimagines its materials, its histories, and its soul. Let’s dive in.

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The Art Bystander No27: Marcus Jansen. In this episode our host Roland-Philippe Kretzschmar, sit down with internationally acclaimed artist Marcus Jansen whose work has been exhibited at the Bronx Museum of the Arts, the Smithsonian Institution, and Documenta among others. From his early years between the Bronx and Germany to serving in the U.S. Army and later becoming one of the most important painters of his generation, Jansen’s journey is as compelling as his art.

His new exhibition Faceless at CFHILL, Stockholm, in collaboration with Almine Rech and the Marcus Jansen Foundation, dissects power structures, anonymity, and the systems that shape our lives. Jansen’s raw, gestural abstraction meets a deeply political and emotional narrative, making his work a powerful lens through which to view contemporary society.

We talk about: His transition from soldier to artist; the unseen forces of control in today’s world; how his art challenges historical narratives; the intersection of street art in his practice and the socialist structure of the military.

Jansen’s work has been described as a 21st-century response to Jackson Pollock and Robert Rauschenberg, but his voice is distinctly his own—urgent, fearless, and unfiltered.

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