BIO
“My work is guided by the need to dig into hope. The interplay of the light and space taps evokes the unseeable, an energetic entity far greater than us, beyond us, and challenges the realities we perceive as truth.”
Shahla K. Friberg (born in Toronto, Canada, 1978) currently works and lives in Skäret, Sweden.
An Iranian/Canadian artist, Shahla Friberg is captivated by the sensorial impacts of light and its properties. She has been primarily focused on creating sculptural works using glass, mirror, and solder, which materialize in an organic, meditative process, resulting in diverse outcomes from reflective forms casting complex fragmented reflections of ourselves and our surroundings back at us, to translucent multi-color forms which attempt to encapsulate the spectrum as a whole. Her works are activated by light, and she explores the interplay of disorder and harmony through the manipulation of perspective evident in how the work shifts and changes as the viewer moves around it.
In 2020, she relocated from Los Angeles to the south of Sweden, where she is creating works on a seaside nature reserve, a location sought by Scandinavian artists for its distinctive light qualities.
Friberg’s work has been presented internationally, including The Re-Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome with Jeffrey Deitch and Nicodim Gallery in Los Angeles (in conjunction with Frieze LA (2020); The Desire for Transparency at Intersect Chicago/SOFA (2020), alongside Ai Weiwei and Monir Shahroudi Farmanfarmaian; and Suggested Followers at Sotheby’s, New York (2022). an immersive installation Glowstone Refuge, for the duration of the 2023 program at Gallery Arnstedt, Recent solo presentations include Remarks on Colour, GSA Gallery (Stockholm, 2024)
While continuing her studio-based glass practice, she is also developing large-scale public works that range from sculptural forms to immersive environments, translating the language of her practice into durable, transformative experiences for the public realm.
Curriculum Vitae
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2025
Architectures of the Unseen
Stockholm Modern, Stockholm, Sweden
2024
Remarks on Colour
GSA Gallery, Stockholm, Sweden
2023
Shahlaland
GOMA – Gallery of Modern Art, Höganäs, Sweden
2022
One in the Whole
Marie Kirkegaard Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark
2021
Memory Palace
Galleri Fredland, Arild, Sweden
2020
Redirection
Edward Cella Art & Architecture, Los Angeles, California, USAINSTITUTIONAL
EXHIBITIONS & INSTALLATIONS
2023
Glowstone Refuge
Immersive installation presented throughout the 2023 exhibition programme
Galleri Arnstedt, Östra Karup, Sweden
Recent Acquisitions Exhibition
Kristianstad Konsthall, Kristianstad, Sweden
2022
Julsalong
Höganäs Museum, Höganäs, Sweden
2020
The Re-Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome
Jeffrey Deitch & Nicodim Gallery, presented during Frieze Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California, USA
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2026
Spår
Krapperups Konsthall, Nyhamnsläge, Sweden
Reflections
Curated by Theodora Karos and Camila Bernaldez
Rancha Kaya, Mykonos, Greece
2025
Memory Palace
Wilhelmina's Gallery, Hydra, Greece
Vem Kan S(p)egla?
Misschiefs, Stockholm, Sweden
Geist
Galerie Hatwich, Rügen, Germany
2024
Season Finale
Galleri Arnstedt, Östra Karup, Sweden
Boninghuset
Galleri Arnstedt, Östra Karup, Sweden
2023
Jubileum
Galleri Arnstedt, Östra Karup, Sweden
Transcendent Voices
Edward Cella Art & Architecture, Los Angeles, California, USA
2022
Suggested Followers
Sotheby's, New York, New York, USA
Garden
Ladies' Room, Los Angeles, California, USA
2021
Galleri Arnstedt (with Steffan Nihlén)
Östra Karup, Sweden
All Tomorrow's Parties
Domicile (n), curated by Michael Slenske
Los Angeles, California, USA
Garden
Ladies' Room, Los Angeles, California, USA
2020
When You Waked Up the Buffalo
Nicodim Gallery, Los Angeles, California, USA
The Stars Look Very Different Today
Marie Kirkegaard Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark
ART FAIRS
2024
Foundations Art Fair (Artsy)
Ross-Sutton Gallery, New York
Contemporary Art Now Ibiza
Ross-Sutton Gallery, New York
2022
Market Art Fair
Marie Kirkegaard Gallery, Liljevalchs, Stockholm, Sweden
Intersect Palm Springs Art Fair
Edward Cella Art & Architecture, Palm Springs, California, USA
2021
Enter Art Fair
Marie Kirkegaard Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark
2020
Untitled Art Miami
Winston Wächter Fine Art, Miami, Florida, USA
The Desire for Transparency: Contemporary Artists Working with Glass
Intersect Chicago / SOFA Expo
Curated by Paul Laster & Renée Riccardo
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Enter Art Fair
Marie Kirkegaard Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark
2019
Barbarella Psychadella
Spring/Break Art Show, Hilde Gallery, Los Angeles, California, USA
SPECIAL PROJECTS
2019
Open Studio
Soho House Los Angeles / Paris Texas LA Gallery
Los Angeles, California, USA
40th Anniversary Venice Family Clinic Art Walk & Auction
Google Headquarters
Los Angeles, California, USA
GRANTS & PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
2024
Helge Ax:son Johnson Foundation
Grant Recipient
2023
Kristianstad Konsthall
Institutional Acquisition
2022
Swedish Arts Grants Committee (Konstnärsnämnden)
Grant Recipient
AWARDED GRANTS AND INSTITUTIONAL ACQUISITIONS
2024 - Helge Axson Jonsson Foundation grant recipient
2023 - Kristianstad Kommun Konsthall
2022 -The Swedish Arts Grant Committee (Konstnärsnämnden) 2022 grant recipient
PRESS
- Konstguiden Magazine, 3 Aktuella Konstnären (3 Artist to Watch) interview by Malin Ebbing, Spring 2024 issue
- One in the Whole, What to see, Kunsten.nu 2022
- One in the Whole, IDO Art, 2022
- Create! Magazine Women Artist of 2021 Issue, 2021
- Redirection, LALA Magazine, 2020
- Redirection, Edward Cella Gallery los Angeles
- The Re-inauguration of the Pleasure Dome- The Hollywood Reporter, 2020
- The re-inauguration of the Pleasure Dome - Los Angeles Magazine, 2020
- The Stars Look Very Different Today - IDO Art, 2020
- The Stars Look Very Different Today - Wall Street International Magazine, 2020
- When You wake The Buffalo, Nicodim gallery, Artforum, 2020
- When You wake The Buffalo, Nicodim gallery, Artland, 2020