Ola Billgren
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"Försvarsverk"
Signed Ola Billgren and dated ´89 on verso. Canvas 153 x 188 cm.
Provenance
Galerie Leger, Malmö.
Exhibitions
Galerie Leger, Malmö, 1989. Östergötlands länsmuseum, Bohusläns museum, Bildmuseet i Umeå and Jönköpings läns museum/konstförening, "Landskap med torn", 1994-1995.
Literature
Östergötlands länsmuseums förlag, "Landskap med torn", exhibition catalogue, 1986, illustrated p. 23.
More information
"Målningen "Försvarsverk" tycks stå för sig själv i utställningen, påvert och liksom darrigt utförd med en färg som bara kan likna hudens, vid utstruken hud. En oreflekterad längtan efter skydd och tryggat bo, kan hända. Men att utföra undanstickandet i en målning som dessutom tycks i högsta grad skröplig? Fältet och duken står öppen för tolkningar av bilden som konstnärens inre försvarslinje. Murarna kan läsas som trådarna i den varp konstnären väver sina förföriska illusioner av. "Försvarsverk" är ett paradoxalt öppet och ogarderat verk." Så recenserar Staffan Schmidt i Sydsvenskan 9 november 1989.
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.