BIOGRAPHY

Maja Malmcrona is a visual artist born 1993 in Gothenburg, Sweden. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Architecture from Umeå University in Sweden and a Master of Science degree in Philosophy from the University of Glasgow in the United Kingdom. She has exhibited internationally and her work is held by collectors across Europe, Asia, and North America. In 2023, she won the Young Art Award prize at the Zurich-based gallery Art Forum Ute Barth. She is based in Zurich, Switzerland.

STATEMENT

Maja Malmcrona’s work relates primarily to an examination of space and our experience of it, placing particular emphasis on the mediation between our natural and built environment. Her work takes the form of abstract landscapes, conceptual cartography, and imaginary structures, oscillating between these overlapping yet distinct subject matters. Malmcrona believes that art should de-emphasise our societal obsession with objects and instead favour universal phenomenological experiences (over ideologies and preoccupations of the self). She uses abstraction as a tool to stay clear of an over-emphasis on these objects, being more interested in the multitude of meanings that lies behind them. In her view, the work of art is a portal—a moment in time in which we may seek emotional refuge from the overload of information prevalent in our contemporary society. Her work is grounded in modern and contemporary perspectives of art, architecture, literature, and philosophy, investigating the continuity across these fields. She works primarily in drawing, painting, and sculpture. 

EDUCATION

2019–2020 MASTER OF SCIENCE IN PHILOSOPHY, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom
2015–2018 BACHELOR OF FINE ARTS IN ARCHITECTURE, Umeå School of Architecture, Umeå, Sweden

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2024 MAJA MALMCRONA, Eunoia, Osaka, Japan (forthcoming)
2024 PHONE DIRECTORY WITHIN, Galerie Billini, Paris, France
2023 YOUNG ART AWARD, Art Forum Ute Barth, Zurich, Switzerland
2023 HIBIYA OKUROJI ART FAIR, Eunoia, Tokyo, Japan

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2024 EXPERIMENTS, Photobastei, Zurich, Switzerland (forthcoming)
2024 WORKS ON PAPER, Art Forum Ute Barth, Zurich, Switzerland
2023 WINTER GROUP SHOW, Art Forum Ute Barth, Zurich, Switzerland
2023 ART SALON ZURICH, Art Forum Ute Barth, Zurich, Switzerland
2023 AFFORDANCE, Kitahama N Gallery (with Eunoia), Osaka, Japan
2023 GROUP EXHIBITION, Erlengut, Erlenbach, Switzerland
2023 GROUP EXHIBITION, Atelier West, Zurich, Switzerland
2022 GROUP EXHIBITION, Studio Stettbach, Zurich, Switzerland
2018 END OF YEAR EXHIBITION, Umeå School of Architecture, Umeå, Sweden
2017 END OF YEAR EXHIBITION, Umeå School of Architecture, Umeå, Sweden
2016 END OF YEAR EXHIBITION, Umeå School of Architecture, Umeå, Sweden

PUBLICATIONS

2024 MEET THE ARTIST, Galerie Billini, France
2024 MAJA MALMCRONA—ARTIST, Aurore Matz, France
2023 RITUALS, Circa Alto, ROHS!, Italy
2023 MAJA MALMCRONA, Eunoia, Japan
2023 LEAVES, Angela Deuber Architects, Switzerland
2022 MAJA MALMCRONA, Umeå Universitet, Sweden
2021 MAJA MALMCRONA’S PHENOMENOLOGY, VAST Magazine, United Kingdom
2021 ABSTRACTION, The Diverter, Switzerland
2018 CELEBRATING DIVERSITY, Umeå University, Sweden

ACADEMIA

2022 GUEST CRITIC, Department of Architecture, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, Switzerland
2018 END–OF–YEAR–PRESENTER, Umeå School of Architecture, Umeå, Sweden
2017 END–OF–YEAR–PRESENTER, Umeå School of Architecture, Umeå, Sweden

AWARDS

2024 ART MATTERS 10 (Honourable Mention), Galerie Biesenbach, Cologne, Germany
2023 YOUNG ART AWARD, Art Forum Ute Barth, Zurich, Switzerland
2021 ARTIST SPONSORSHIP, Thomson Gallery, Zug, Switzerland
2021 ART MATTERS 4 (Honourable Mention), Galerie Biesenbach, Cologne, Germany
2020 STUDENT GRANT, Willinska Stiftelsen, Gothenburg, Sweden
2016 STUDENT GRANT, Stiftelsen AAA, Stockholm, Sweden