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Birgitta Sundström Jansdotter
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As is often the case in Birgitta Jansdotter's work, the diptych "X" and "Y" raises more questions than it answers. What is a woman, what is a man? Are we looking at gods, fallen angels, lovers? Are they part of a whole, forever separated or in the process of becoming one? Do they cover their faces in introspection or shame? Is the power of their mind shaping the mysterious landscape, rich in myths and symbols? And into what, creation or apocalypse? Are they perhaps hiding from it? Is telepathy connecting them, or are they mourning because of their loss? Virtuous in their use of art historical and contemporary pop culture elements, Jansdotter's hybrid paintings tell us stories about the joys and sorrows of human relationships. She places emphasis on the roles and stereotypes women have been traditionally assigned, find themselves in now and should be claiming for themselves in future.
Birgitta Sundström Jansdotter, originally from Sweden, has been living and working in the Netherlands since 2001. She has exhibited her work worldwide and has been awarded several art prizes. Text: Peter Hinrichs for the catalouge of Nordart 2019 |
Powerful, tough, challenging, tempting and-at the same time-vulnerable women play the leading role in the monumental works of Swedish born Birgitta Sundström Jansdotter. She paints the stereotype of the idealized woman, known from popular culture, fashion and advertising, displaying a variety of emotions and expressions, evoking a multiplicity of both universal and very personal feelings and reactions. Jansdotter, who began her career in Sweden, held her first solo exhibition in 1994 in Luleå. Since 2001 she works from her Studio in the Netherlands (Nieuwerkerk aan den Ijssel). Her work has been exhibited worldwide in museums, galleries and art fairs from South Korea and Hong Kong, to the UK, Sweden, Italy, Belgium, Spain, Germany and the Netherlands. Most recently her work was on display at the Summer Expo 2017 in Museum de Fundatie, the Netherlands, and at the Kunstenfestival Watou, Belgium. In the summer of 2018 (4 months) her paintings is to be seen in NordArt in Büdelsdorf, Germany, one of the largest annual exhibitions of contemporary art in Europe. Jansdotter has received two art prices in Sweden. In the Netherlands she has been awarded the Jacob Hartogprijs (2007) and the Cultuurprijs Zuidplas (2017).
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