Björn Lövin. The Surrounding Reality

From the 1970s, the Swedish artist Björn Lövin (1937-2009) engaged persistently in an exploration of the changing society, revealing the gap between the welfare state, consumerism and the groups excluded, as well as the relationship between individual and collective, between image and reality. His immersive environments, constructed out of carefully chosen details that together formed fictive worlds in which visitors could move around, made him one of Sweden's first installation artists. Björn Lövin's installations have been presented at various institutions, including Moderna Museet and Centre Georges Pompidou, but none of them have been preserved in their entirety. Three of them will be recreated for Moderna Museet, and together with new essays the publication is also republishing the exhibition catalogues from each occasion in facsimile. New generations will hopefully discover this artistic practice that was so deeply characterised by constant exploration and a conceptual approach, addressing subjects and issues that are acutely relevant to this day.Text: Rasmus Fleischer, Maria Lind, Helena Mattsson, Matilda Olof-Ors.