14 January - 19 February, 2006
Lars Bohman Gallery
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Galleri Lars Bohman is proud to present Lena Cronqvist's fifth exhibition at the gallery. The new exhibition "Self-portraits" consists of a series of paintings and sculptures.

Since her debut in 1965, Lena Cronqvist has recurrently worked with multifaceted and existential themes, such as love and hate, happiness and sorrow, loss and loneliness. Sometimes with a mocking touch, and other times with a crude nakedness, the works always grow from a personal experience. Despite their private nature, Lena Cronqvist's works are not closed for the viewer. Instead the artist allows them to communicate a universal experience, where the story of the particular becomes the story of what we all might feel.

In the exhibition "Self-portraits" Lena Cronqvist displays a series of painted and sculptured self-portraits. The artist places herself in different poses and she lets the facial expressions and the colours set the tone in the different paintings. The self-portrait as a mirror, as a rebounding question, becomes evident in the large aluminium sculptures where the artist's face literally takes the place of the mirror glass.

In conjunction with the exhibition, the gallery proudly releases a book with the artist's new paintings. Lena Cronqvist is also of current interest with her illustrations to the new release of Gunnar Ekelöf's trilogy with Diwan över fursten av Emgión (1965), Sagan om Fatumeh (1966) and Vägvisare till underjorden (1967). Professor and psychiatrist Johan Cullberg has written the epilogue.

Born in 1938 in Karlstad, Sweden, Lena Cronqvist lives and works in Stockholm. She attended the National College of Arts Crafts and Design (1958-59), and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm (1959-1964). She is a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts.

Lena Cronqvist has exhibited widely in Sweden and abroad and has had numerous solo exhibitions including several retrospectives at, Liljevalchs konsthall, Stockholm; Galleri F15, Moss, Norway; Nordens Hus, Reykjavik, Iceland; The Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts, Stockholm; Borås Konstmuseum, Borås; Norrköpings Konstmuseum, Norrköping; Lunds Konsthall; Lund; Skövde Konsthall, Skövde; Tricia Collins Contemporary Art, New York. She has also participated in group exhibitions in Sweden, Mexico, Paris, Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, Brazil, China, India and Egypt, among others.