fredag 3 juni 2011

This week, the many artists in Gotland..

..are inviting the public to view their artwork in their ateliers. Maria Brandsjö-Fredin - and very old friend of mine and neighbour here on the island, is showing her production in her studio by her home in the parish of Stenkyrka .
Maria and I went to the same school of Journalism in Stockholm and spent some time on the US West Coast together in the groovy 60´s. She has been painting all along her years as a professional journalist.
She has a great studio covered with canvasses and paintings on a number of strong themes that doesn´t excactly leave you unaffected. Her satires of local Gotland politicians are stunning. Maria always tries to add a bit of warmth to her satires which is not the case about her series of paintings on the theme of mobbing ..

Growing up..
..trying to cope with your parent´s expectations..trying desperately to please..
..if not successful in meeting your parent´s expectations, you could always dream about winning the Nobel Prize. Then you wold win them.. Perhaps.
Maria´s cold world of school mobbing..
Am I an alien?
"You are a disgusting whore"
A school corridor. You just have to walk past all..
The brutality of youth.
The cold and scornful faces of the silent bystanders.

View from the floor..
Her mobbing painting makes my blood turn to ice.
Maria among her satiric paintings..The politician on the left is the man who is trying to introduce the parking meter here on Gotland!
The coverage she got in the Gotland papers.
"Satires with a "tongue-in-cheek" it says in Swedish.