Mamma Andersson Libri

A celebration of the representation, figuration, and classical antiquity in Mamma Andersson’s newest paintings. "When I look at this collection of pictures, . . . what strikes me first is the image-making capacity itself and the endless stream of images it brings forth and always has brought forth into the world.” —Karl Ove Knausgaard, Mamma Andersson: Sleepless The Swedish painter Mamma Andersson draws inspiration from a wide range of photographic source materials, art history, filmic imagery, theater sets, and period interiors, as well as the sparse topography of northern Sweden. The paintings and works on paper collected in this volume explore atmosphere and mood through representations of masks, statues, and figurines, which take on a dreamlike, mythical quality in stark silhouettes. While recalling classical genres of still life, landscape, and interiors, this body of work, painted in 2021 and 2022, blends our sense of the past, present, and future. A companion to the artist’s previous books A Storm Warning and The Lost Paradise, this limited-run publication features a new essay by Karl Ove Knausgaard. The text considers the history and evolution of the human desire to depict our surroundings, placing Andersson’s doubled renderings—“pictures of pictures”—within a tradition of painting not from life but from representations of life.

This collection of Mamma Andersson’s latest paintings spotlights the beauty and mystery of nature and the erasure of time "What Mamma Andersson does in some of these pictures is on the one hand depict the illusions, the one thing which is another thing—masks, theater, statues, paintings—and on the other portray that which is only itself, potted plants, tree trunks, trees, landscapes. Everything is motionless, these rooms are located out of time." —Karl Ove Knausgaard, Mamma Andersson: A Storm Warning In a series of oneiric paintings inspired by interiors and the landscape of her childhood, the Swedish painter Mamma Andersson muses on the line between reality and illusion. She introduces thoughtful warm hues into an otherwise cool, muted color palette, lending an otherworldly feeling to the everyday scenes and subject matter that populate this new body of work, painted between 2020 and 2021. A companion to Sleepless and The Lost Paradise, this publication features a commissioned essay by Karl Ove Knausgaard, a meditation on wistful childhood memories of carefree exploration and the portal art creates between the world we live in and the worlds Andersson conjures with her brush.

This volume celebrates the Swedish artist Mamma Andersson’s new body of work—melancholic, evocatively colored paintings that explore femininity, fantasy, and memory. Andersson’s works embody a new genre of landscape painting that recalls late nineteenth-century romanticism while also embracing a contemporary interest in layered, psychological compositions. Her panoramic scenes draw inspiration from a wide range of archival photographic source materials, filmic imagery, theater sets, and period interiors as well as the sparse topography of northern Sweden, where she grew up. The paintings utilize a selection of motifs from throughout her career: barren branches and thick-barked pine trees, domestic interiors, horses, and young women. Resembling still lifes, they further a tradition of quiet, dreamlike domestic scenes by Scandinavian artists such as Vilhelm Hammershøi (1864–1916) and Edvard Munch (1863–1944). Part of a self-conscious effort to capture an experience rather than a specific event, the compositions are freer and more abstract and mark a departure from her earlier work. Splendid color reproductions bring the artist’s textured brushstrokes, loose washes, and stark graphic lines to life on the page. The book also features a new essay by critically acclaimed author Karl Ove Knausgaard. The Lost Paradise is published on the occasion of an eponymous exhibition presented at David Zwirner New York in 2020.

Im August 2016 richteten die Galleri Magnus Karlsson in Stockholm und die Galleri Bo Bjerggaard in Kopenhagen zwei bedeutenden Malern der nordischen Länder, Mamma Andersson und Tal R, eine gemeinsame Ausstellung unter dem Titel Svanesang (Schwanengesang) aus. In der zweiteilig angelegten Schau wurden neu entstandene Gemälde und Gouachen präsentiert und parallel in beiden Galerien gezeigt. Mit Svanesang eröffneten Mamma Andersson und Tal R ihre erste echte künstlerische Zusammenarbeit. Der Ausstellung ging ein einjähriger visueller Dialog zwischen beiden voraus, in dem sie Motive austauschten und einander fotografisches Material zuschickten. So wurde in der Ausstellung nachvollziehbar, wie Motive in den Werken beider Künstler rekurrierten und Anregungen in einem bereichernden wechselseitigen Austausch zwischen beiden oszillierten. Anstatt die eigene Inspiration zu zelebrieren, ließen beide Künstler ihre Bilderwelten durch den jeweils anderen manipulieren, nahmen das Material anschließend neu in den Blick und machten es sich zu eigen. Somit bilden die Werke einzigartige Künstlerstatements von Mamma Andersson und Tal R, legen zugleich aber, wie die vorliegende Publikation deutlich macht, Zeugnis von einer Form des künstlerischen Gesprächs oder „Bilderreigens“ ab.

In 1983, I began working as a watchman at Moderna Museet in Stockholm while studying art. My job allowed me to immerse myself in art history, and the bookstore became a treasure trove of inspiration. One of the first exhibitions I oversaw was Dick Bengtsson’s, which, though small, captivated me. Initially, I didn’t fully appreciate his paintings, but eventually, they became foundational to my own work. During the 90s, his catalogue became my daily companion, often accompanying my morning coffee. I would sometimes replicate his paintings or borrow elements for my own creations, leading to a well-worn, stained book. His imagery became so ingrained in me that I occasionally mistake his works for my own. Remarkably, this was the first publication dedicated to his artistry, with another not appearing until 2005, coinciding with a larger exhibition at Moderna Museet. Bengtsson, an autodidact, was once considered an outsider artist, and despite his limited output, his works are now highly valued. I am thrilled to contribute to this project, enabling more art enthusiasts, both in Sweden and beyond, to discover his remarkable legacy.