Time Trace

Swedish artist Maria Friberg, born in 1966, (Lives and works in Stockholm) produces sophisticated photographic and video settings bringing to light this psyche, torn between reassurance and anxiety. This is the anxiety that can seize us when we are shaken by the breathtaking question of our place in the universe, a questioning to which the elements remain obstinately deaf in their mute majesty.
The silent monumental projection of Maria Friberg's video Matador is otherworldly. Rays of light pierce water as a great vortex takes shape. One is quickly captivated by the spectral dance of drifting garments. In its current, we see a man's dress shirt. Glowing white, it lingers, eventually receding into shadow until it finally disappears from view. We recognize Friberg's visual language. She often uses water as a metaphor for the force of nature. In Matador, she goes on to evoke the sublime.
The shirt emptied of a body, is a discarded remnant of a life, or of a time. Like a vanitas, it reminds us of our finite existence. As a result, the absurdity of the shirt becomes apparent. A consequence of consumer culture and fast fashion, it is representative of the millions of tons of waste we discard each year. Here Friberg poses the question, What legacy will we leave behind?

« Most of my work revolves about themes of power, masculinity and man's relationship to nature. In my images, I create ambiguous tableaus that challenge preconceived notions about identity, gender and social hierarchies. My most recent pieces look both outwards, to the challenges in contemporary society, and inwards, to a meditative state of mind. In these photographs and videos, the isolation and solitude of the individuals reflect issues in society at large. The men in my images are signs for men, trying to find their place in times of turmoil. » Maria Friberg.

LMNO will present, for the first time in Belgium, some pictures from Along Side Us and Distorsion's series.

Maria Friberg's work has benefited from broad international visibility with, for example, exhibitions at the Fotomuseum Winterthur, The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington DC, Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Hasselblad Foundation, Gothenburg, etc.

Maria Friberg is represented by
Galleri Andersson/Sandström, Stockholm
Pi Artworks, London
Conner Contemporary Art, Washington DC
Bendana-Pinel, Paris