Fatima Moallim, Noter, 2023 (detail), oil pastel and pencil on paper, 310 x 114 cm
Courtesy of the artist and Belenius, Stockholm.
Fragments of memory spring forth as if from nowhere and disappear without a trace. Artist Fatima Moallim continually experiences nostalgia for the 90s. Although this longing doesn’t necessarily correlate with the transition into the internet era nor with pivotal moments of pop culture and grunge aesthetics, it embodies a sentiment that may not be tangible but needs to be triggered. Moallim keeps using a specific ballpoint pen from that time called BIC, which comes in four colours—green, blue, red, and black—and still defines her colour palette. Working with a pen or an underground like the linoleum she used to draw with/on in her childhood enables her to access a transgenerational heritage shaped by migration, alienation, and uncertainty.
The way Moallim draws resembles a self-inspecting exercise where the mundane manifests itself in a sometimes enigmatic, sometimes choreographed visual language. With a deeply intuitive and spontaneous approach, elements or scenes observed from a window or talked about on the street translate into a broad range of shapes and forms directly onto the paper without a preliminary draft. Like a visual contemplation, Moallim’s imagery captures her surroundings while simultaneously evoking biographical memories of her childhood. At [tart vienna], her first presentation in Austria, she aims to create an intimate and personal space vaguely reminiscent of her studio’s atmosphere, sharing both unarticulated ideas and definite stories, and allowing visitors to witness a process of becoming form.
Fatima Moallim is an artist based in Stockholm and Paris and works in various media including drawing, performance, video, and music. She presented works and performances at the Moderna Museet, Stockholm (2018, 2022), Göteborgs konsthall, Gothenburg (2021), Marabouparken, Stockholm (2018), Zinkensdamm’s subway station in Stockholm (2020), and on the glass facade of Bonniers konsthall, Stockholm (2019). Most recent solo exhibitions include Viljan att Leva, Royal Swedisch Acedemy of Arts, Stockholm (2024); State, Belenius, Stockholm (2022); and Leila, Växjö konstall, Vaxjö (2021).
Theresa Roessler is an independent curator and writer currently based in Berlin. Most recently, she worked as a curator at Kunstverein Freiburg, where she curated the exhibitions Mock Kings by Jala Wahid (2023), On the Brink of Remembering (2022), and Owls and Promises by Alex Ayed (2022), among others. Theresa has developed independent curatorial projects, such as the group show Taking Notes within the 15th edition of the international gallery festival curated by at Galerie SOPHIE TAPPEINER in Vienna. Her most recent writing has been published in Revista ARTA, Springerin, Camera Austria, and PW Magazine. |
