Christine Ödlund

Christine Ödlund’s art builds on cross-pollinations, explorations, secrets and surprises. Sound and vision, nature and culture, physics and metaphysics thus often interact in her complex production. The works are independent yet seem to correspond to each other. A sensory impression is perceived and interpreted by other senses. The artist has painted pictures with light, played music for nettles and orchids, and listened to the voices of ferns. Ödlund’s paintings, sculptures and video works remind us that nature is cyclical. Ödlund’s multitalented work also includes international screenings and performances in cities like London (2008), Rotterdam (2009), Vienna (2011 and 2016), New York (2012), Utah (2014) and Tokyo (2018). As a musician Ödlund has appeared on eight albums between 2004 (Elektrofoni) and 2023 (Fyra Dimensioner av ett Träsk / Four Dimensions of a Swamp).

Ödlund was educated at the Academy of Photography at Konstfack University of Arts, Crafts and Design, Stockholm (1992 – 1995); the Video Department at Royal Institute of Art, Stockholm (1995 – 1996) and Electroacoustic Music / EMS Elektronmusikstudion, Stockholm (2002-2004). Between 1997 and 1999 she was a member of the artist group Swe.De (Swedish Department at Gallery Ynglingagatan 1, Stockholm) and in 2019 she was elected member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts. Among her accolades can be counted the Filmform Honorary Award 2010; the Edstrand Foundation Art Prize 2010; a ten-year working grant from The Swedish Arts Grants Committee, 2017 and Gannevik’s Scholarship, art prize 2021. In 2022 Ödlund’s book Growing the Third Ear Under the Great Astral Mother Tree won the Reddot Book Award.

Selected Solo Exhibitions include Thought-Forms (Christian Larsen, Stockholm, 2009); Thought-Form Materializing (Milliken Gallery, The Armory Show, New York, 2011); Audiography (Galleri Riis, Market Art Fair, Stockholm, 2013); Musik för Eukaryoter / Music for Eukaryotes (Galleri Riis, Stockholm, 2013); Musikk for Eukaryoter(Trondheim Museum of Art, Trondheim, Norway, 2014); Aether & Einstein (Magasin III Museum & Foundation for Contemporary Art, Stockholm, 2016); The Great Solar Eclipse, 1868, Guntur, India. Dagmörker (Galleri Riis, Stockholm, 2016); IONOSPHERE * PLANT * METAL * AURA (Galleri Riis, Oslo, 2018); Music for Resurrected Atoms (MLF | Marie-Laure Fleisch, Brussels, 2019); The Psychological Enigmas of the Unknown Life, together with Fredrik Söderberg (Kristianstads konsthall, Kristianstad, Sweden, 2019); Systema Naturae (CFHILL, Stockholm, 2020); Growing the Third Ear (MLF | Marie-Laure Fleisch, Brussels, 2021); Growing the Third Ear Under the Great Astral Mother Tree (CFHILL, Stockholm, 2022); Det Tredje Örat (Galleri Arnstedt, Östra Karup, Sweden, 2022); Four Dimensions of a Swamp (CFHILL, Stockholm, 2023) and This Garden and its Spirits (Nordic Watercolor Museum, Skärhamn, Sweden, 2024). 

Ödlund have also been included in several prestigious group exhibitions such as Man Machine (Tekniska museet / Interactive Institute, Stockholm, 2006); Linnés Natur (Linnés Hammarby, Uppsala, Sweden, 2006); How Imitations Get Cornered By The Real (UKS, Oslo, 2007); Changing Matters (The Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, 2008); Sonic Voices, Rocking Hard (Neederlands Instituut voor de Mediakunst, Amsterdam, 2008); Creating Spaces (Tsinghua University, Beijing, 2008); Botanic Sounds (The Botanical Garden, Gothenburg, 2009); Swedish Art & Culture, The US Ambassador’s Residence, Stockholm, 2010); Worshipping the Sun (Braverman Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel, 2010); Park Life (Marabouparken, Sundbyberg, Sweden, 2010); Thrice upon a time (Magasin III, Stockholm, 2010); The Moderna Exhibition 2010 (Moderna Museet, Stockholm); Music in Art (Milliken Gallery, Stockholm, 2011); Nordic Darkness (Kristinehamns Konstmuseum, Kristinehamn, Sweden, 2011); freq_out 8 (Moderna Museet, Stockholm, 2011); Art and Music - Search for New Synesthesia (MOT - Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, 2012); freq_out 9 (Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 2013); Channelled / I Strömmen (Lunds konsthall, Lund, Sweden, 2013); Marrakech Biennale 2014; The Drawing Room (Magasin III Museum & Foundation for Contemporary Art, Stockholm, 2014); Konstnären / The Artist (Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 2016); Life Itself (Moderna Museet, Stockholm, 2016); Konstnären/The Artist (Moderna Museet, Malmö, Sweden, 2016); Utopins Arkeologi (CFHILL, Stockholm, 2017); Alpha & Omega (Hallgrímskirkja, Reykjavik, 2017); Survival Kit 9 (International Contemporary Arts Festival, Riga, 2017); The Beautiful Escape (CFHILL, Stockholm, 2018); Traces Ecrites (MLF | Marie-Laure Fleisch, Brussels, 2018); With The Future Behind Us (Moderna Museet, Stockholm, 2018); Modern Nature (Drawing Room, London, 2019); Sensing Nature from Within (Moderna Museet, Malmö, Sweden, 2019); Orgonomics (Garage Rotterdam, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, 2019); Signature Women – 100 Years on the Swedish Art Scene (Artipelag, Stockholm, 2020); When In Doubt, Go To A Museum (City Museum of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, 2021); Borås Art Biennial, Sweden, 2021; UPCLOSE (CFHILL, Stockholm, 2021); In the Pupil of the Panther (Lunds konsthall, Lund, Sweden, 2021); Skogspromenad / Forest Walk (CFHILL, Stockholm, 2021); Swedish Ecstasy (Bozar, Brussels, 2023); Experiments in Learning (The Tel Aviv Autonomous Art Biennial, 2023); Animal Kingdom (Nordic Watercolor Museum, Skärhamn, Sweden, 2023); Suivre les ondes: Lars Fredriksson en résonance avec Anastasia Ax et Christine Ödlund (Institut suédois, Paris, 2024); Rebel Garden (Triennial Bruges 2024, Bruges, the Netherlands, 2024); Gazing Bodies (CFHILL, Stockholm, 2024); XVIII International Vilnius Painting Triennial (Kaunas Picture Gallery, Vilnius, 2024) and The Romantic Eye (Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 2024).

Ödlund’s many commissions and public works include, for example: Atlantis (animation commissioned by Animate Projects and RSA Arts & Ecology in association with Arts Council & Channel 4, 2008); Water Sample (Visualization Center C, Norrköping, Sweden, commissioned by the National Public Art Council Sweden, 2011); Atlantis No. 2 / 2012(Statoil Oslo offices, Fornebu building, Norway, 2013); Lindarnas Anatomi (Kista Gårds Park, Kista, Sweden, commissioned by Stockholm Konst, 2013); FREQ_OUT 1.2 (skandion) (Skandionkliniken, Uppsala, Sweden, 2014); Livets träd (Kungshult Hospice, Helsingborg, Sweden, commissioned by Helsingborg municipality, 2015); Musikaliska Konstruktioner, för metall och vatten (Karlstad, Sweden, commissioned by Karlstad municipality, 2016); Cryptogami (NTNU, Trondheim Norway, commissioned by Koro, 2017); Walden (Residential building entrance, Stockholm, 2017); Inkommande Kraft (Alelyckan Kretslopp och Vatten, Gothenburg, Sweden, 2019) and Walking Score / Vandringspartitur (HSB Brf Hamnen Uppsala, Sweden, commissioned by Kc öst, 2020).

Ödlund is represented with works in public collections like British Museum, Department of Prints and Drawings, London; SEB art collection, Solna, Sweden; KORO Public Art Norway, Kunst i offentlige rom, Norway; Magasin III Museum & Foundation for Contemporary Art, Stockholm; Moderna Museet, Stockholm; Statoil Oslo offices, Fornebu building, Oslo; The Museum of Sketches, Archives of public art, Lund, Sweden; Trondheim Museum of Art, Trondheim, Norway and Public Art Agency Sweden / Statens Konstråd, Stockholm.

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