Mamma Andersson: Rooms Under the Influence

Mamma Andersson... About A Girl (2005, Oil on canvas). From Mamma Andersson: Rooms Under the Influence at David Zwirner Gallery. "...Mamma Andersson’s paintings seem to embody a duality that is central to Swedish culture: the interplay of rural and urban aesthetics and the clash of the bourgeois with the everyday. Inspired by theater sets and period interiors, her dreamlike compositions are populated by ghostly figures, shadows, swirling clouds and distant mountains. Andersson’s use of windows, reflections, and depictions of paintings within the pictorial space is enhanced by the juxtaposition of thick paint and textured washes, creating a setting for vaguely supernatural occurrences. Seemingly pastoral vistas and calm interiors are sometimes violently interrupted by thick black smoke or blocked-out areas – this, coupled with a palette reminiscent of distressed photographs, imbues Andersson’s works with an unpredictability that is equally disturbing and compelling."