maria safronova Wahlström

October 2021

Maria Safronova Wahlström (born in 1989, Moscow, Russia) is an artist based in Gothenburg. With a deep interest in social myths, she works with themes of collective behaviour and linguistic practices that signal our social belonging. Issues of relations between collective identity and individual formation, our maintenance of social boundaries and moral and ideological branding form the main field of her practice.

With a background in classical painting, she works between sculpture, installation and graphics depending on the project's goal and purpose. Regardless of medium, she focuses on the contradiction between conceptual and visual form, contemporary and historical references. She has studied art at Moscow State University (BA in Fine Art), California State University (Multimedia Graduate Program) and Valand Academy (MFA in Free Art). Her work has been exhibited in places such as Contemporary Art Centre Vilnius, Göteborgs Konsthall in Gothenburg, Tbilisi History Museum and Gallery Jean-Pierre Gros in Paris.
Selected exhibitions are: 2021 Vad Är Nytt?Götaverkens Gamla industrilokaler, Göteborg, Sweden (upcoming) | 2021 You and I, You and Me, Piksel Festival, Bergen, Norway (upcoming) | 2021 Frölunda Modiga Monster Ser Skogen Och Alla Träd, Frölunda Kulturhus, Göteborg, Sweden | 2021 Skruvstädet i tiden - och andra berättelser, Mölnycke Konsthall, Mölnycke, Sweden | 2021 You and I, You and Me, BIORAMA-Projekt, Joachimsthall, Germany | 2021 You and I, You and Me, Baltic Biennial 14 EDU, Contemporary Art Centre Vilnius, Vilnius, Lithuania

2021 Arkitekturvisioner: Brunnsparken, project done together with Per Nadén, Thobias Fäldt, Johannes Wahlström, Röhsska Museet, Gothenburg, Sweden | 2021 FOR SURE, Verksmiðjan Hjalteyri, Hjalteyri, Iceland | 2020 Hur Skulle Det Vara Då? BOKSKÅPET Barn-& Ungdombokhandel, Gothenburg, Sweden | 2020 The intermediary chains, Obergska Galleri, Styrsö, Sweden | 2019 Recent Graduates, Affordable Art Fair Stockholm | 2019, Stockholm, Sweden | 2019 The Last Stone, the Festival-Laboratory Shelter, the Space for Free Arts / Vapaan Taiteen Tila, Helsinki, Finland | 2019 Things We Will Forget, Göteborg Konsthall, Gothenburg, Sweden | 2019 IF I WERE IN MY SHOES, Galleri Monitor, Gothenburg, Sweden | 2017 1 Kg, Project Loosers, Gallery Rotor2, Gothenburg, Sweden | 2016 A Beach, project done together with Klara Källström, Thobias Fäldt, Johannes Wahlström. Galerie Jean-Pierre Gros, Paris, France. Photo Saint-Germain 2016 | 2015 Telo, Project O Cucumber, where art though?, Center Krasniy, Red October, Moscow, Russia 2015 A Beach, project done together with Klara Källström, Thobias Fäldt, Johannes Wahlström. Skajs Antikhandel, Stockholm, Sweden | 2015 X-Ray, Pinecone Art Gallery, Paducah, KY, USA