Maria Friberg holds a unique position in contemporary photography. From her first series in the late 1990’s, now iconic and in numerous public and important private collections, to her Still Lives-series from the early 2000’s, Belonging (2011), and Silent Revolution (2019), to mention a few, Maria Friberg has continuously examined power, sexuality, human conditions, and physical and mental relations throughout her oeuvre.
In Inherited Words, Maria Friberg builds on mankind’s relation to time, knowledge and power. She questions the world in which we live, which we are co-creators of, and poses questions as to what it has become. These photographs, meticulously produced in the island of Fårö, Gotland, in the Baltic Sea, shows an antique book cabinet, partly filled with old books. The cabinet, taken out of its original setting and now placed in the coastal waters of Fårö, is resisting the waves rolling through it and over its shelves, pushing the books into the sea. We know the cabinet and the books will only resist so long, nature will eventually and inevitably, weigh heavier in this act of balance. It is nature versus culture. Friberg does not provide us with any answers, as to what is good or bad, positive or negative, nor does she judge. Rather, she invites the viewer to contemplate on his or her own sets of boundaries of when we resist and when we decide to let go. Imbedded in these works are also the aspect of knowledge; what is classical knowledge, and what is its worth, in a time of digital consumerism. Inherited Words presents the ambiguous beauty of destruction and its preordained possibilities.
Niclas Östlind, professor of Photography, HDK-Valand, University of Gothenburg, writes about Maria Friberg:
This simultaneously dreamlike and intensely charged atmosphere characterises many of her works – in particular the images in which furniture and people appear, seemingly without explanation, in the midst of nature. Another distinctive feature of the photographs is their painterly quality, and in both their choice of subject matter and their visual expression, they reveal a strong affinity with the Belgian Surrealist René Magritte.
The essay is published in full in the new book by Maria Friberg, released in conjunction with the exhibition. A limited-edition print will also be available.
Maria Friberg (born 1966 in Malmö, Sweden) lives and works in Stockholm. She received her artistic training at The Royal Institute of Art, Stockholm, where she graduated in 1995, and before that at Myndlista- og Handidaskoli, Reykjavik, Iceland and Nordic Art School, Kokkola, Finland, among others. Friberg has had numerous solo shows at museums, galleries and institutions in Sweden and abroad, and she is widely represented in public collections and museums, such as Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Göteborgs Konstmuseum, Gothenburg, Linköpings Konstmuseum, Västerås Konstmuseum, Norrköpings Konstmuseum, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, Fotomuseum, Winterthur, Switzerland, The Hirschorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington DC, USA, Kiasma, Helsinki, Denver Art Museum, Colorado, USA, Museo Fortuny, Venice, Italy, Emma, Espoo, Finland, to mention a few.
Maria Friberg is the recipient of, among others, grants from the Institut Suédois, Paris, the Ingmar Bergman Residency, The Swedish Arts Grants Committee, IASPIS, Stockholm, The Stockholm City Working Grant, Längmanska kulturfonden, The Ellen Trotzig Foundation Prize, and more. Public commissions include, Giaeffla/Gefle/Gävle, Brynässkolan, Gävle; Somewhere else, Stockholm School of Economics; Areonauter, Södersjukhuset, Stockholm, to mention a few.
For further information, contact the gallery.
