Matts Leiderstam’s (b. 1956) art and researched-based work is closely related to the history of painting. He is systematically looking for alternative, queer, narratives relating to viewing a painting. Leiderstam explores the grid as a tool for the composition of images, which was developed during the Italian Renaissance. The grid has been central to image-making ever since, including for photography, and not least for computer-generated images in a contemporary context where we are continuously connected to a global data network via our screens.

Leiderstam’s ideas/reflections and examination of the grid and its relation to the gaze is also a research project supported by the Swedish Research Council. Artworks produced during the project have been presented in several exhibitions, such as What Does the Grid Do? at The Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts, 2022, and in his latest exhibitions at Gallery Andréhn- Schiptjenko, (until September 23, 2023) and at Dalslands konstmuseum (until November 14, 2023).

The new book, Seen Through the Grid, marks the end of the project and includes a foreword and a text by Matts Leiderstam, a text by curator, writer and director of Konstmuseet i Norr/Norrbotten County Art Museum Maria Lind as well as a conversation between Matts Leiderstam and Maria Lind. The book's layout and design result from a close collaboration between graphic designer Patrick Lacey, photographer Svante Larsson and Matts Leiderstam.

The book is published with support from the Swedish Research Council and the Siri and Sven- Ivar Lind Fund, Royal Academy of Fine Arts.