Changed position

The man with a sorrow gaze placed on top of a pile of shirts could be seen as a continuation of the artists straightforward way of expressing ”what is there” in an effective and simplistic way. Just as other works by the artists, Changed Position elaborates on power structures that exert its influence and define us. 

Maria Friberg’s color photographs and videos are vivid and lush, yet they are also unsettling and coolly provocative. Reversing centuries of what has often been called a “male gaze,” Friberg’s female gaze often captures smartly attired men in unexpectedly solemn, vulnerable and also sensual contexts, for instance a man in a white suit and black trousers lying atop a pile of crumpled automobiles, a perfect symbol for upended power, from Still Lives, 2003-2007, or somber people partially enveloped by abundant foliage in a botanical garden (Days of Eyes, 2014).