Moment - Lena Svedberg
17 May - 12 Oct 2014
MOMENT - LENA SVEDBERG
Mr Aldman - Superhero of the Universe
17 May 2014 - 12 October 2014
Curator: Fredrik Liew
Lena Svedberg (1946–1972) is best known for her contributions to the Swedish underground magazine Puss 1968–74, but her short oeuvre comprised infinitely more than that. For the 1969 Biennial in Paris she created the work Mr Aldman – Superhero of the Universe.
The story about Aldman is a remarkable analysis of the world in the form of a comic book about the Middle East as a local arena for global interests – political as well as economic and religious. Noam Chomsky and an oil pipeline leads the antihero of the work to a market place where representatives of the USA, USSR, Israel, the Palestine, Egypt, France, South Africa, Ethiopia and others are conspiring. Then, as now, a sordid battle for power and money is raging all over the world.
Mr Aldman – Superhero of the Universe consists of 57 drawings and collages, making it Lena Svedberg’s biggest and most complex work. Although it has been in the Moderna Museet collection since 1970, the work is still unknown to the general public; it has not been shown for nearly 40 years due to its deteriorated condition. After restoration the work is now ready to be rediscovered and in connection to the exhibition it is also published as a comic book by Galago/Moderna Museet. Together the book and exhibition is a close study of the fascinating work which enriches the whole ouvre of the artist.
Mr Aldman - Superhero of the Universe
17 May 2014 - 12 October 2014
Curator: Fredrik Liew
Lena Svedberg (1946–1972) is best known for her contributions to the Swedish underground magazine Puss 1968–74, but her short oeuvre comprised infinitely more than that. For the 1969 Biennial in Paris she created the work Mr Aldman – Superhero of the Universe.
The story about Aldman is a remarkable analysis of the world in the form of a comic book about the Middle East as a local arena for global interests – political as well as economic and religious. Noam Chomsky and an oil pipeline leads the antihero of the work to a market place where representatives of the USA, USSR, Israel, the Palestine, Egypt, France, South Africa, Ethiopia and others are conspiring. Then, as now, a sordid battle for power and money is raging all over the world.
Mr Aldman – Superhero of the Universe consists of 57 drawings and collages, making it Lena Svedberg’s biggest and most complex work. Although it has been in the Moderna Museet collection since 1970, the work is still unknown to the general public; it has not been shown for nearly 40 years due to its deteriorated condition. After restoration the work is now ready to be rediscovered and in connection to the exhibition it is also published as a comic book by Galago/Moderna Museet. Together the book and exhibition is a close study of the fascinating work which enriches the whole ouvre of the artist.