Majlis Agbeck – Nära ytan, långt borta

Cecilia Hillström Gallery is pleased to present a solo exhibition with Majlis Agbeck (b 1948). Nära ytan, långt borta includes a selection of textile works and paintings on acrylic glass. 

Working mainly with painting and embroidery, Agbeck creates a unique expression which is both deeply personal and universal. Nature is an important inspiration for the artist and is continuously present in her works. Naive animals are usually depicted in interactions with the world and evoke sympathy, humour and questions of belonging. The inherent transparency of the material releases the subject matter from any sense of gravity, balancing the motifs between micro and macro perspectives.

For Agbeck, the power of expression always exceeds the choice of technique. The unforgiving polyester organza used for the embroideries offers a resistance which requires skill and focus, and the works take shape in a meditative process. Reduction is also an essential tool in Agbeck's practice; the final image is a result of only the simplest lines or threads holding the world together. With intuition and playfulness, Agbeck pinpoints existential questions through her work.

Majlis Agbeck (b in 1948 in Halmstad) is based in Malmö. She studied at the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm in the early 1970's. Her most recent exhibition was last year's solo show at Moderna Museet Malmö, curated by Iris Müller Westermann. Furthermore, Agbeck has exhibited extensively in the south of Sweden, for example at Galleri Ping-Pong, Malmö, Hässleholms Kulturhus and at Tomelilla konsthall. She is represented in numerous collections in Sweden, including Moderna Museet, Malmö Art Museum, Hallands Konstmuseum, Kalmar konstmuseum, Ystads konstmuseum as well as in the collections of Public Art Agency Sweden and the County of Stockholm / Region Stockholm. Public commissions include Skånes universitetssjukhus, Hässleholms sjukhus, AstraZeneca, Stockholm, och Akademiska sjukhuset, Uppsala, to name a few.