Talks & Seminars
Art of the Maker: Monica Sjöö
Discover Monica Sjöö’s overlooked art in a major Moderna Museet and Modern Art Oxford show.
Monica Sjöö – self-described ‘radical anarcho/eco-feminist and Goddess artist, writer and thinker involved in Earth spirituality’ – was born in Sweden in 1938, moved to the UK, lived in Bristol and died in 2005. Her life was touched with tragedy but her resilience was immense. Her art was intertwined with activism, feminism and goddess worship – she didn’t believe in a spirituality that wasn’t political.
One of her best-known paintings God Giving Birth (1968) – which depicts the Creator as a monumental full-frontal, naked Black woman birthing her child – resulted in Sjöö being threatened with prosecution for obscenity and blasphemy and was removed from display three times.
For many years largely ignored by the mainstream art world, her work is being celebrated in a major survey show co-organised by Moderna Museet in Stockholm and Modern Art Oxford. This talk, an in-conversation between Amy Budd (Modern Art Oxford) and Su Fahy (Monica Sjöö Curatorial Collective), will explore Sjöö’s remarkable work, and its powerful ongoing relevance.
One of her best-known paintings God Giving Birth (1968) – which depicts the Creator as a monumental full-frontal, naked Black woman birthing her child – resulted in Sjöö being threatened with prosecution for obscenity and blasphemy and was removed from display three times.
For many years largely ignored by the mainstream art world, her work is being celebrated in a major survey show co-organised by Moderna Museet in Stockholm and Modern Art Oxford. This talk, an in-conversation between Amy Budd (Modern Art Oxford) and Su Fahy (Monica Sjöö Curatorial Collective), will explore Sjöö’s remarkable work, and its powerful ongoing relevance.
