Kominek Gallery presents a solo show by Maja Forsslund (*1975 in Stockholm) as part of the European Month of Photography in Berlin. The exhibition features photographs from the series “AKT”. In her works Maja Forsslund creates sceneries with nudes, which not only display the model and the pose, but also focus on the small and large details in the surroundings and therefore inexorably connect these details with the nude. Hastily placed slippers, a fan heater, stretchers that are leaning against the wall, and classical props are all made the center of attention and develop their very own, sometimes surrealistic, image language.
Maja Forsslund, who was accepted at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris at the age of 22, initially examined the human body in life drawing courses and learned the painter’s craft. In sketches she began to interpret and create based on human forms. She studied muscle groups and the forms and development of bones and sinews in every detail, and learned to observe and record the differences between bodies and how they are shaped by time and life. After some time in Paris she continued her studies at the Academy of Fine Art in Krakow. Wanting to record her observations, to preserve them like a collector, she began to work with the camera. She doesn’t limit herself to a selection, as in drawings where some details are left out or added in. Her photographs show the whole scenery, every small detail and every bodily and spatial characteristic. Maja Forsslund’s images give a look behind the scenes. They’re telling a story, that on the basis of the details can be developed further by the viewer.
In one photograph, for example, a man is lying between stacked chairs, the chairs that are positioned on top are turned upside down, the upturned chair legs seem to retrace the outlines of his body. They remind us of lances on a battlefield; the man as a victim is caught between them. The viewer’s associations with classical historical paintings are awakened. With ordinary props and poses Forsslund establishes connections to art historical motifs. Also the skeleton, a conventional implement in drawing classes, detaches itself from its original role and becomes a symbol of vanitas in a wider art historical context. Threatening the skeleton stands behind an elderly woman, reminding us of the transience of life. By using these classical art historical references, Forsslund gives the recipient a familiar access to her world of images, but at the same time breaks the limits of the Genre Nude and creates very new worlds that captivate the viewer with tragic surrealistic sceneries and sometimes absurd fragments of everyday life.
Maja Forsslund works with classical high quality analog silver gelatin bromide prints.
Maja Forsslund – AKT
From October, 23rd to November, 16th 2012
Kominek Gallery
Immanuelkirchstr. 25
10405 Berlin – Germany
Tel: +49 (0) 30 44 31 84 38
[email protected]
