"The Cave"
Signed MI-B and Meta Isaeus-Berlin and dated 2011 on verso. Canvas 180 x 180 cm.
Baukunst Galerie, Cologne, "Moon Dreams", 8 September - 11 November 2011.
In the deepest recesses of the cave the darkness envelops the shimmering brightness of the stalagmites. A flowing painting style captures the smell of damp and minerals. At the heart of the mountain grotto water drips and light shines through an opening in the roof. Here new formations of shining crystals are formed. With an exceptional energy and a painterly sensuality Meta Isæus-Berlin has created a thoroughly unique visual language. Her creations are often based on the notion of mirroring, and on subtle shifts in reality. This generates a tension in her work and a vertiginous feeling in her compositions.
Isæus-Berlin graduated from the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm in 1993. The painting ‘The Cave’ was executed in the mid 1990s when the artist had begun to progress into painting after years of mainly working with installations. Since 2006, when a major solo show of Isæus-Berlin’s work was shown at Liljevalchs Konsthall in Stockholm, painting has been her principal mode of expression. However, her ongoing exhibition at Waldermarsudde, ‘Nattlogik’ (5th October 2019 – 16th February 2020), sees a return to installation art, but in combination with new paintings.
Meta Isæus-Berlin’s painting work has been described as intelligent and passionate. In Sweden her art has been exhibited at, for example, Bror Hjorth’s House in Uppsala, Borås Konstmuseum and Liljevalchs Konsthall. Internationally her work has been shown in Venice, Cologne, Hong Kong, Miami, and in Barcelona.