Ola Billgren
Covered by droit de suite
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Untitled
Signed Ola Billgren and dated -67. Canvas 39 x 28 cm.
Exhibitions
Krognoshuset, Lund, "Ola Billgren Aura", 21 January – 4 February 1968. Acquired in conjunction with this exhibition.
More information
I Billgrens måleri från 1960- och 1970-talen kom inspirationen från hans närmaste omgivning, den samtida, urbana vardagen men även från litteraturen och filmen och från tidningar och månadsmagasin. Han rönte stor uppmärksamhet och kom att representera Sverige på en rad utställningar, däribland Ungdomsbiennalen i Paris 1967 och 1971 samt på Biennalen i Venedig 1976. Under den här tiden målade han av många av sina vänner, just den här modellen heter Birgitta. Genom vardagliga miljöer och små medel lyckas Billgren förmedla en förtätad och dramatisk scen, som obönhörligt berör betraktaren. Modellstudien är snävt beskuren, utsnittet är fotografiskt och skapar associationer till Edward Westons och Imogen Cunninghams svart-vita fotografier från 1920- och 30-talet.
Artist
Ola Billgren was born in 1940 in Copenhagen but based his career in Sweden. Billgren was self-taught, having only been trained by his parents Hans and Grete Billgren. Ola worked within the mediums of graphic art, watercolour, collage, photography, film, and scenography. He was also an author and culture critic. Known for his versatility, Billgren cultivated a relationship between art and reality in his work.
During the 1960s, he transitioned from abstract expressionism to photographic realism. Over time, his paintings evolved into a fusion of abstract and photorealistic styles, resulting in romantic landscapes where he examined the interplay of light and color. Forms dissolved, and colors were reduced to monochrome, single-colored surfaces that were richly worked and varied.
In the late 1980s, he returned to urban environments in large cityscapes, often painted from a high perspective but maintaining the impressionistic approach seen in his landscapes. Ola Billgren's influence on recent decades of art has been significant. His work is represented in institutions such as Musée National d'art Moderne Centre George Pompidou in Paris and Moderna Museet in Stockholm.