Jonatan Leandoer Håstad, better known as Yung Lean, will present his first major art exhibition, Collected Works 2016–2026, in Stockholm next month. The Swedish rapper and artist will bring together a decade of paintings, drawings, sculpture and other works that he has developed largely outside the public eye.
Håstad has made wooden sculptures, paintings and drawings since childhood. However, he only recently decided to formally present this side of his practice. The move follows a live painting installation at Thibaut Grevet’s TTGT Studio during Paris Fashion Week in partnership with adidas Originals, alongside a wheatpaste poster and a studio image shared on Instagram.
A Decade of Visual Work
Collected Works 2016–2026 will occupy Torsgatan 22 in Stockholm from September 25 through October 11. The exhibition will feature paintings, collages, works on paper, sculpture and dioramas, alongside site-specific installations.
Inside the former industrial Gasworks, the presentation will unfold through a series of immersive environments. These include a salon, a television room and a screening room. Meanwhile, large-scale installations and sculptural seating will create a setting that connects Håstad’s individual works with a broader spatial experience.
The exhibition also extends into film. A new short, executive produced by and starring Håstad, follows two lovers through a dreamlike landscape along the back roads of Sweden. Consequently, the project expands his visual practice beyond static objects and into moving image.
After the Stockholm exhibition, a curated selection of works, including sculptures, will be offered through an international online auction with Bukowskis.
From Music to Art
Håstad’s approach to visual art mirrors the intuitive process he associates with his music. Rather than presenting a fixed conceptual framework, his works emerge through an instinctive relationship with color, gesture and material.
“Ever since I can remember, I dreamed of colors,” the artist expressed. “Just like my songs, the work is made through a stream of consciousness. I go where the hand takes me. My paintings mean nothing and also everything. Here they are.”
The exhibition, therefore, offers a rare view into a visual practice that has developed alongside Håstad’s musical career. At the same time, its Stockholm setting allows the artist to present these works as a cohesive body rather than as isolated experiments.
With Collected Works 2016–2026, Yung Lean formally enters the exhibition circuit while retaining the spontaneous qualities that have characterized his wider creative output. The project positions painting, sculpture, film and installation as parallel forms of expression within an expanding artistic practice.
