Öjvind Fahlström
Encyclopedia
Biography
Fahlström was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, as the only child to Frithjof Fahlström and Karin Fahlström. In July 1939 he was sent to StockholmStockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
to visit some distant relatives and after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
he started to study and later on to work as a writer, critic and journalist. From 1960 until 1976 he was married to the Swedish Pop painter Barbro Östlihn
Barbro Östlihn
-Biography:Östlihn specialized in large-scale, geometrically patterned paintings. Many of her hard-edge canvases were abstracted from architectural details—doors, portals, moldings, roofs, skyscrapers—while others were modeled on natural objects such as flowers...
.
Career
In 1953 Fahlström had his first solo exhibition where he showed the drawing Opera and the same year he wrote Hätila ragulpr på fåtskliaben, a manifestoManifesto
A manifesto is a public declaration of principles and intentions, often political in nature. Manifestos relating to religious belief are generally referred to as creeds. Manifestos may also be life stance-related.-Etymology:...
that was published the following year.
In 1956 Fahlström moved to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and lived there for three years before he moved to Front Street studio, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. In New York he worked with different artists and explored his role as an artist further. In 1962 he participated in the New Realists exhibition at the Sidney Janis Gallery
Sidney Janis
Sidney Janis was a wealthy clothing manufacturer and art collector who opened an art gallery in New York in 1948. His gallery quickly gained prominence, for he not only exhibited the work of most of the emerging leaders of Abstract Expressionism, but also that of such important European artists as...
, in New York City. His work was included in the 1964 Venice Biennale
Venice Biennale
The Venice Biennale is a major contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every two years in Venice, Italy. The Venice Film Festival is part of it. So too is the Venice Biennale of Architecture, which is held in even years...
and he had a solo exhibition at Cordier & Ekstrom Inc., New York. In 1965 he joined the Sidney Janis Gallery
Sidney Janis
Sidney Janis was a wealthy clothing manufacturer and art collector who opened an art gallery in New York in 1948. His gallery quickly gained prominence, for he not only exhibited the work of most of the emerging leaders of Abstract Expressionism, but also that of such important European artists as...
.
In 1966 his work Performance of Kisses Sweeter Than Wine was included in 9 Evenings: Theatre and Engineering, organized by Experiments in Art and Technology at the 26th Street Armory, New York. The same year his painting in oil on photo paper was included in a group exhibition called Erotic Art at the Sidney Janis Gallery
Sidney Janis
Sidney Janis was a wealthy clothing manufacturer and art collector who opened an art gallery in New York in 1948. His gallery quickly gained prominence, for he not only exhibited the work of most of the emerging leaders of Abstract Expressionism, but also that of such important European artists as...
. Fahlström had solo exhibitions at the Sidney Janis Gallery in New York City in 1967, 1969, 1973 and 1976. In 1973 he wrote a play called The Black Room, based on the Watergate scandal
Watergate scandal
The Watergate scandal was a political scandal during the 1970s in the United States resulting from the break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., and the Nixon administration's attempted cover-up of its involvement...
, and he had a retrospective at Moore College of Art Gallery, in Philadelphia, Pa.
Death
He became a productive and well known artist that worked in many genres and often with political and social questions. On Swedish television he made a name for himself after he smoked a pipe that he claimed was hashishHashish
Hashish is a cannabis preparation composed of compressed stalked resin glands, called trichomes, collected from the unfertilized buds of the cannabis plant. It contains the same active ingredients but in higher concentrations than unsifted buds or leaves...
on a national broadcast.
In 1976 he died of cancer at the age of 48.
Selected exhibitions
- 2006 Eye on Europe, Museum of Modern ArtMuseum of Modern ArtThe Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
, New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and... - 2005 Art and Politics, Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen Germany
- 2004 Galerie Air de Paris, Paris
- 2004 Galerie Johann König, Berlin
- 2003 Museum Het Domein, Sittard, Netherlands
- 2002 Institut d´art contemporain, Lyon-Villeurbanne, France
- 2002 Baltic, Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, UK
- 2001/0 BAWAG Foundation, Vienna
- 2000 Museu d´Art Contemporani de Barcelona, Barcelona
- 1999 Gallery 400, University of Illinois, Chicago
- 1999 Norrköpings Konstmuseum, Norrköping, Sweden
- 1996 Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne
- 1996 Centro Studi sull´arte Licia e Carlo Ludovico Ragghianti, Lucca, Italy
- 1996 Galerie Aurel Scheibler, Cologne
- 1996 Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary ArtMassachusetts Museum of Contemporary ArtThe Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, commonly referred to as MASS MoCA, is a museum in a converted factory building located in North Adams, Massachusetts, USA. It is one of the largest centers for contemporary visual art and performing arts in the country.MASS MoCA opened with 19...
, North Adams, MassachusettsNorth Adams, MassachusettsNorth Adams is a city in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 13,708 as of the 2010 census, making it the least populous city in the state...
- 1995 Centre Culturel Suédois, Paris
- 1995 Uppsala Konstmuseum, Uppsala, Sweden
- 1995 Gesellschaft für Aktuelle Kunst e. V., Bremen, Germany
- 1994 Thomas Nordanstad Gallery, New York
- 1993 Feigen Incorporated, Chicago
- 1992 IVAM/ Centre Julio Gonzalez, Valéncia, Spain
- 1991 Galerie Aurel Scheibler, Cologne
- 1991 Sidney Janis Gallery, New York
- 1990 Arnold Herstand & Co., New York
- 1990 Galerie Baudoin Lebon, Paris
- 1989 Galerie Ahlner, Stockholm
- 1988 Olle Olsson-huset, Hagalund, Solna, Sweden
- 1987 Arnold Herstand & Co., New York
- 1985 Boibrino Gallery, Stockholm, Sweden
- 1984 Arnold Herstand & Co., New York
- 1983 Walker Art CenterWalker Art CenterThe Walker Art Center is a contemporary art center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Walker is considered one of the nation's "big five" museums for modern art along with the Museum of Modern Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim Museum and the Hirshhorn...
, Minneapolis - 1982 Sidney Janis Gallery, New York
- 1982 The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
- 1981 Stella Polaris Gallery, Los Angeles
- 1980 Musée national d´art moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris
- 1980 Museum Boymans-van Beuningen, Rotterdam, Netherlands
- 1979 Moderna Museet, Stockholm
- 1978 Sharon Avery/Redbird, Brooklyn, New York
- 1977 Galerie Baudoin Lebon, Paris
- 1976 Sidney Janis Gallery, New York
- 1976 Galerie Ahlner, Stockholm
- 1975 Galerie Alexandre Iolas, Paris
- 1974 Foster Gallery, University of Wisconsin
- 1974 Galerie Buchholz, Munich
- 1974 Galleria Multhipla, Mailand
- 1973 Sidney Janis Gallery, New York
- 1973 Moore College of Art Gallery, Philadelphia
- 1971 Sidney Janis Gallery, New York
- 1969 Sidney Janis Gallery, New York
- 1969 University of Minnesota, University Gallery, Minneapolis
- 1969 Middlebury College, Middlebury, Vermont
- 1969 Edinboro State College, Edinboro, Pennsylvania
- 1969 University of Georgia, Museum of Art, Athens, Georgia
- 1969 University of Texas, Art Museum Austin, Texas
- 1969 Sacramento State College, Sacramento, California
- 1969 Galerie Rudolf Zwirner, Cologne
- 1967 Sidney Janis Gallery, New York
- 1966 XXXIII Biennale di Venezia, Venice
- 1964 Cordier & Ekstrom, Inc., New York
- 1962 Galerie Danila Cordier, Paris
- 1959 Galerie Danila Cordier, Paris
- 1959 Galerie Blanche, Stockholm
- 1955 Galeria Aesthetica, Stockholm
- 1954 Eskilstuna Konstmuseum, Eskilstuna, Sweden
- 1953 Galleria Numero, Florence