Ola Billgren (1940 - 2001)

Nationality

Sweden

Place of Birth

Köpenhamn, Danmark

Place of Death

Malmö, Sverige

Biography

Ola Billgren was born in Copenhagen in 1940 and grew up in an artist family in southern Skåne in Sweden. He made his debut at the early age of thirteen, exhibiting his watercolours and ink drawings around Löderup in Österlen. In the 1960s, he moved to Lund, and later settled in Malmö in 1973. In this period, his painting changed as developments in the art world pulled in different directions – partly political, partly towards social realism and the everyday. From mainly working with abstract art, Billgren became more interested in photorealism. He often painted buildings and interiors with people, frequently in typical Malmö streetscapes. In the 1980s and 1990s, he returned to a more abstract language, interweaving photorealism with Impressionist influences and collage techniques in a number of series.