Stieg Pers­son

Born Mel­bourne, Aus­tralia 1959
Lives and works in Mel­bourne

Stieg Pers­son has been exhibit­ing for over three decades with a prac­tice that inves­ti­gates the pos­si­bil­i­ties of what paint­ing can do. His ear­ly paint­ings are char­ac­terised by a mono­chro­mat­ic palette and flow of mark from arabesque to cal­lig­ra­phy and text, while lat­er works have leaned more towards the abstract­ed. Pers­son also incor­po­rates appro­pri­at­ed imagery, Roco­co influ­ences and graf­fi­ti that he doc­u­ments in Mel­bourne. In meld­ing these ele­ments, Pers­son inves­ti­gates the free inter­play between abstrac­tion and fig­u­ra­tion.

Recent exhi­bi­tions include ​‘Bloom’, 2024, Mel­bourne Art Fair; ​‘Bloom’, 2023, Anna Schwartz Gallery; ​‘Stieg Pers­son: Poly­phon­ic’, Ian Pot­ter Muse­um of Art, 2018; ​‘The Nation­al: New Aus­tralian Art’, Muse­um of Con­tem­po­rary Art, 2017; ​‘Paint­ing, More Paint­ing – Chap­ter 2’, Aus­tralian Cen­tre for Con­tem­po­rary Art, 2016; ​‘The Frag­o­nard Room’, Anna Schwartz Gallery, 2014; ​‘The­atre of the World’, La Mai­son Rouge, Paris, 2013; ​‘Mel­bourne Now’, Nation­al Gallery of Vic­to­ria, 2013; ​‘Mix Tape 1980s Appro­pri­a­tion’, Sub­cul­ture, Crit­i­cal Style, Nation­al Gallery of Vic­to­ria, 2013.

Persson’s work is rep­re­sent­ed in all major Aus­tralian col­lec­tions includ­ing the Nation­al Gallery of Vic­to­ria, Mel­bourne; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Syd­ney; Art Gallery of West­ern Aus­tralia, Perth; Nation­al Gallery of Aus­tralia, Can­ber­ra; Auck­land Art Gallery and Met­ro­pol­i­tan Muse­um of Art, New York. In 2003 he won the inau­gur­al Arthur Guy Memo­r­i­al Paint­ing Prize, Bendi­go Art Gallery.

CV

Bib­li­og­ra­phy