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 EXHIBITION
2025
Architectures of the Unseen, Stockholm Modern, Stockholm, Sweden
2024
Remarks on Color, GSA Gallery, Stockholm, Sweden
Glowstone Refuge, Galleri Arnstedt, Ostra Karup, Sweden
2023
Shahlaland, Gallery of Modern Art, Höganäs, Sweden
2022
One in the Whole, Marie Kirkegaard Gallery, Copenhagen, DK,
2021
Memory Palace, Galleri Fredland, Arild, Sweden
2020
Redirection, Edward Cella Art & Architecture, Los Angeles, CA
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS & INSTITUTIONAL PROJECTS
2026
Winter, Galleri Christoffer Egelund, Copenhagen, DK
2025
Memory Palace, Wilhelmina’s Gallery, Hydra, Greece
Vem Kan S(p)egla?, Misschief’s, Stockholm, Sweden
Geist, Galeri Hatwich, Rüger, Germany
2024
Season Finale, Gallery Arnstedt, Östra Karup, Sweden
Boninghuset, Galleri Arnstedt, Östra Karup, Sweden
2023
Din Konst, Kristianstad Konsthall, Kristianstad, Sweden
Jubileum, Galleri Arnstedt, Östra Karup, Sweden
Transcendent Voices, Edward Cell Art and Architecture, Los Angeles, CA
2022
Suggested Followers, Sotheby’s, Currated by Jerry Gogosian, Manhattan, NY
Julsalong, Höganäs Museum, Höganäs, Sweden
2021
Galleri Arnstedt, Östra Karup, Sweden
All Tomorrow’s Parties, Domicile (n.), Curated by Michael Slenske, Los Angeles, CA
Garden, Ladies’ Room, Los Angeles, CA
2020
The Re-Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome, Jeffrey Deitch Gallery & Nicodim Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
When You Waked Up the Buffalo, Nicodim Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
The Stars Look Very Different Today, Joint Show,Marie Kirkegaard Gallery, Copenhagen, DK
Garden, Ladie’s Room, Los Angeles, CA
2019
Open Studio Soho House LA, Paris Texas LA Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Summer, Galleri Lohme, Malmö, Sweden
40th Anniversary Venice Family Clinic Art Walk & Auction at Google Headquarters Los Angeles CA,
Art House LA, Curated by Jacquie Israel, Los Angeles, CA
ART FAIRS
2024
Foundations Art Fair by Artsy, Curated By Destinee Ross-Sutton, Ross-Sutton Gallery NY, Online
Contemporary Art Now Ibiza, Curated By Destinee Ross-Sutton, Ross-Sutton Gallery NY, Ibiza, Spain
2022
Market Art Fair- Liljevalchs, Marie Kirkegard Galleri presentation, Stockholm, SE
Intersect Palm Springs Art Fair, Edward Cella A&A, February, Palm Springs, CA
2021
Enter Art Fair, Marie Kirkegaard Gallery, Copenhagen, DK.
2020
Untitled Art Miami, Winston Wächter Fine Art, Miami, FL
The Desire for Transparency, Intersect Chicago, SOFA Expo, Curated by Paul Laster and Renée Riccardo, Chicago, IL
Enter Art Fair, Marie Kirkegaard Gallery presentation, Copenhagen, DK.
2019
Barbarella Psychadella, Spring Break Art Fair, Hilde Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
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