Obituary: Monica Sjöö
Pat VT West, The Guardian
September 2005
Most of the canvases of Monica Sjoo, who has died of cancer aged 66, were large, unapologetic and political. Her earlier work depicted figures of African descent, and often carried bold text. And when she exhibited her most iconic work, God Giving Birth, at the St Ives arts council festival 1971, it was removed by the authorities.
That was not the only time that God Giving Birth - later bought by the Anna Nordlander Women’s Art Museum, at Skelleftea, in Sweden - caused offence. Monica’s output was prodigious, her exhibitions many, and her canvases appeared across Europe and the United States. Her work could be over-primitive and illustrative, but it filled space with colour and imagery. […]