ALF LINDGRENLJUSMÅLNINGAR13.10 -1.11.1972

ALF FRITZ LINDGREN
Born in Malmö, 1941

He began his artistic career in 1955 at the Skåne Painting School in Malmö under the guidance of artist Tage Hansson, after which Lindgren continued his studies with Mogens Andersen in Copenhagen in 1958. Study trips abroad followed, and in 1962 Lindgren entered the Staatliche Kunstschule in Bremen, while also participating in the Summer Exhibition of Young Art, Städtische Galerie, Munich in 1962.

In 1963 he debuted with his first solo exhibition at Galerie Richter in Bremen. In 1964 Lindgren had his Swedish debut in Malmö at the Theatre Gallery with about thirty paintings. Marianne Nanne-Bråhammar then wrote about the exhibition: “The interest in light is reminiscent of a painter like Turner, today a current name. The mood in the pictures can acquire a surrealist overtone, and one understands when the artist in the catalogue speaks of a macabre world of Matta.”

The following years were marked by exhibitions abroad as well as in Lund at the now existing Galerie HS and Galerie Loftet in Malmö.

In 1970 Lindgren participated in the exhibition “Art for Children” at Malmö Museum.
In 1970–71 he was represented in the Lunds Konsthall Artotek.

In 1970 Lindgren distanced himself from official art life and began experimenting with fluorescent and phosphorescent image compositions in the long-wave ultraviolet spectrum, especially at the wavelength of 3655 Å. This led to what he called “transcendental light painting”, using means deliberately chosen to evoke a third dimensional space of light, without comparison in current visual art. His light paintings can be experienced as windows in the wall leading to an inaccessible inner paradise; the paintings are static and harmonious counterparts to the acrobatic-kinetic art of the theater, created by his modern color techniques.

Lindgren’s light paintings are centered on Tibetan mandalas; glowing from within, they are Dionysian night visions, dawning galaxies, light landscapes with a mystical astral character. In terms of color, they are ascetically conceived, directly de-materialized figures radiating a meditative atmosphere. These light paintings can also be likened to iconostases of “light icons” from the 19th century, captivating the viewer beyond the boundaries of language and discursive thought, into the neglected and forgotten inner-perceptual space; into the contemplative, ordered, and sacred existence of perception. These light paintings possess the lost third dimension, and here an unmistakably spiritual perspective emerges, one that cannot be confused with a merely material visual content.

ALF FRITZ LINDGREN exhibits his light paintings for the first time at GALERIE S:T PETRI, LUND, from Friday 13 October – 1 November 1972.