It is our great pleasure to exhibit Lasse Åberg – Swedish artist, illustrator, graphic designer, script writer, director, actor and musician. The art of drawing has been a part of him since childhood. His motto is »never a day without a line«. In this exhibition, we will see a wide variety of images from childhood until present day, with illustrations for childrens books, album art, posters and lithographs. It is with great skill and subtle witty humour Lasse Åberg plays with phenomena and concepts. He likes to call his art »visual mischiefs«. The images are often picture riddles and one liners that also visually offer a fantastic art of drawing with a marked sense for light, shade and depiction of material. With his eye for details and the absurd, he helps us see the humour in familiar situations and things. He makes us laugh at ourselves and at the same time see beauty in the mundane.
Åberg chose to become an artist of drawing when he was ten years old and was praised for his skills at home. He studied advertising and book crafts at Konstfack in Stockholm 1960–1964. During his studies, he came across pop art which grew to be an important source of inspiration in his creations and an entrance to his work with cartoon characters and mundane objects. Ever since then, he’s been working as an illustrator, graphic designer and artist. As an artist he’s been recognized for his playful pastiches of Disney characters and references to art, kitsch and a widely known imagery. Åberg’s versatile illustrations have been seen in many different contexts. He created the classic chair fabric at SL’s metros and commuter trains in Stockholm, made posters for (among others) Skansen and Vasaloppet, illustrated books, made album art and much more.
Lasse Åberg was born in Hofors in 1940 and grew up in Fredhäll, Stockholm. He is one of Sweden’s most popular cultural profiles and the creator of cult classics such as Repmånad (1979) and Sällskapsresan (1980) – the most viewed Swedish film in theatres! He’s been a well known person for children of several generations, among other things as Trazan in the children’s show Trazan and Banarne and as a part of the pop group Electric Banana Band. He has also created a collection of older objects associated with Disney, cartoon art and art associated to cartoons that can be seen at Åberg’s Museum in Bålsta. During his long career he has been awarded a number of prizes and awards, such as Guldbaggen for best male actor (film), Grammis for best children’s album of the year (music), Guldägget for his illustrations for Wasabröd (commercial) and H.M. The King’s Medal of the 8th size.
We express our gratitude to Åberg’s Museum.
(Photo: Denise Grünstein.)