Foam Magazine #21 / MERGE / Gunnel Wåhlstrand

Gunnel Wåhlstrand was born in 1974 in Uppsala, Sweden and lives and works in Stockholm. She graduated in 2003 from The Royal University, College of Fine Arts, Stockholm. With black ink, water and great precision, Wåhlstrand meticulously reconstructs the life of the father she never got the chance to know. She has recently begun to investigate the photo albums on her mother’s side of the family.

Wåhlstrand, who can work for months on a single painting, compares the time-consuming and cumbersome painting technique to the act of developing.

Her large-scale paintings are part of several private and public collections. In 2003 she received a grant of the Maria Bonnier Dahlins Stiftelese, a prestigious award for young artists of promise. In 2006 she had a solo exhibition at Magasin 3 Stockholm Konsthall and in 2008 completed a permanent commission in the entrance of the Court of Appeal of Skåne and Blekinge. Gunnel Wåhlstrand is represented by Andréhn-Schiptjenko in Stockholm, where she recently held her second solo exhibition.