Mamma Andersson

The title 'Storverk' (Masterpiece) refers to the painting within the painting, depicted on the easel. It is a section of the work 'The blank memories always open from the south' from 2002. The whole work, a repetition in four sections which was shown at the Venice Biennale in 2003, has a length of 280 cm. The title is ambiguous, it also refers to the depicted city 'Mandu' also called 'City of Joy' in the state of Madhya Pradesh in Central India. Mandy was founded around 600 BC and is today a well-preserved ghost town, glorified and romanticised. A 45 km long fortified wall surrounds the city's palaces and mausoleums. Mamma Andersson saw a photograph of Mandu - she found it in an old book about India, which inspired her to do the painting. Mamma Andersson has said that we are surrounded by 'memory gaps' in the form of buildings or objects, a kind of memory bank around us. Sometimes we experience a memory gap opening, only to quickly close again, sometimes archaeologists can unearth an entire community.

'I remember so well when I painted this one. It took one or at most two days. It was late August and probably forty degrees in my studio in Örnsberg. I couldn't close the curtains, it was south-facing and I was wearing panties and a tank top. I remember the canvas came from Dramaten, a friend had given it to me. It had a dry absorbent primer and the oil spread on the surface. I painted with traditional oil paints, sprayed with solvent, and then I swept with a soft brush to get the shadows. It was difficult but fun. Very nice canvas to paint on, unusual.'