Alison Jacques now represents Monica Sjöö
The artist’s inaugural exhibition will open in 2024
4 May 2023
Monica Sjöö, Meeting the Ancestors at Avebury, 1993. Courtesy: © Monica Sjöö Estate
‘Alison Jacques is proud to announce the representation of Monica Sjöö (b.1938, Härnösand, Sweden; d.2005, Bristol) ahead of the artist’s first major museum retrospective ‘The Great Cosmic Mother’ at Moderna Museet, Stockholm (13 May – 15 October 2023), Modern Art Oxford, UK (18 November 2023 – 25 February 2024) and Moderna Museet Malmö, Sweden (23 March – 8 September 2024) curated by Jo Widoff and Amy Budd.
In her own words, Monica Sjöö dedicated her life and practice ‘to creating paintings that speak of women’s lives, our history and sacredness.’ Self-described as a ‘radical anarcho/eco-feminist and Goddess artist, writer and thinker involved in Earth spirituality’. As Jennifer Higgie writes, ‘her legacy is one characterized by her visualization of women as powerful and life-giving; as goddesses whose ancient wisdom can nourish contemporary life. When Sjöö made her pictures, she believed that the spirits of the ancient sisterhood were communicating with her, from matriarchal cultures, which had been erased. Artmaking, for Sjöö, was an act of joy and possibility; a means not only of expressing something about the present, but of communicating with the past and moving into a more positive future.’ During her lifetime Sjöö participated in numerous happenings and protests, as well as exhibitions; she wrote and published extensively, including her seminal book The Great Cosmic Mother (1987).
Monica Sjöö’s inaugural solo show at Alison Jacques, London will open in 2024 following the publication of Sjöö’s first major monograph featuring essays and texts by Amy Tobin, Annika Öhrner, Jennie Klein, as well as contributions by artists Lucy Stein, Jill Smith and Olivia Plender, published by Moderna Museet, Stockholm and Modern Art Oxford.