Bengt Lindström was born on September 3, 1925, in Storsjö; Berg Municipality and died January 29, 2008 in Sundsvall. He was a Swedish artist. Lindström was one of Sweden’s best known contemporary artists with a characteristic style of distinct colors, often including contorted faces.
Lindström was born in 1925 at Storsjö kapell, Härjedalen, Sweden. In 1944, he moved to Stockholm to study under the Swedish painter Isaac Grünewald.
Lindström is probably best known for his outdoor decorations, such as mural paintings and colorful sculptures. One of his most famous sculptures is the massive Y-sculpture at Midlanda Airport north of Sundsvall, Sweden.
But his birthplace of the province of Norrland is the inspiration; it is in this vast, legendary and brutal land of mountains, glittering lakes and deep forests of Lapland, he grows as a child. His father is a teacher and friend of the Lapps, he is interested in the culture of the ethnic group. At the age of three days, the child receives from his godfather, Kroik, Sami King, his baptism of the earth, the child’s passage between the roots of a tree for providing him the protection of the gods. The Sami but also the loggers put aside their silence to share him and reveal him the Northern legends and mysteries.
In 1948, he moved to Paris, where studied under the French painters André Lhote and Fernand Léger. He remained in France at Savigny sur Orge for the rest of his artistic career.
He had two children Mariana and Alexandre.
His first solo exhibition was held in 1954 in Stockholm. He becomes friends and binds with Asger Jorn, a member of the CoBrA movement.
He makes portraits of writers and philosophers.
He works in France and Sweden. Frescoes, masks, glass, tapestries, artworks on cars, jewelry, papier mâché sculptures, monumental art works, ceramics … the variety of media he uses is amazing.
He uses the carbodundum process for his lithographs. This is a technique by which you add material on the stone or plate (carborundum powder and glue) that process preserves the hollows and bumps and brings out the relief to printing. Bengt Lindström improved this technique by using pulp for large formats.
Lindström died in 2008 in Sundsvall, Sweden.
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