Gabriella Loeb and Martha Ossowska Persson,
Splendor in the touch, sculpture, painting.
20 August–26 September 2015

Cecilia Hillström Gallery is pleased to open the autumn season with two artists in a duo presentation; Gabriella Loeb and Martha Ossowska Persson. As the title of the exhibition implies, they share a sensibility in terms of closeness to the media of their choice – sculpture made of hardened fabric and large-scale watercolour painting. For both artists, questions arise from the act of doing. Loeb and Ossowska Persson let the painstaking process – involving a considerable amount of technical skill – guide their way to the final result.

With a background in fashion, Gabriella Loeb abandoned the limitations and ideals of the fashion industry and became interested in the space outside the body. Her approach stems from an interdisciplinary approach where the know-how of haute couture, painting and dance is key. In her sculptures, Loeb uses texture to create structure, provoking sensation through an immeasurable number of folds. They are composed in toile, a lightweight canvas meant for both draping and painting on. ”The folds are made by thousands of hand sewn stitches that eat up the length of the fabric, slowing down the material from something quick and uncontrollable to a structure with an inner skeleton”, Loeb explains. Its resin coating freezes the textile in the midst of its performance, turning it from flesh to bone. Gabriella Loeb’s interest in art from the Baroque era manifests itself in the way her sculptures affect the viewer, encouraging movement and interaction, at the same time expressing strength and vulnerability.