Fabian Edelstam

Fabian Edelstam was born in Stockholm, Sweden 1965.

Since 1990 he has lived and worked in Paris. After graduating he continued his studies with Bachelor's Degree at Beckmans School of Design and Fashion (1986 – 89) in Stockholm and then at the art school Acadèmie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris (1990 – 91).

“Edelstam is splitting the image and reconstructing it. He is a premodernist and a postmodernist. His sense for the image goes back far into the past, as does his pedigree. He is as fascinated by the golden Byzantine icons as by the posterlike icons of our time, but seeks a deeper reality by breaking them into pieces and putting them together again. But, as if it were a childhood memory or an historic event, some little square will remain missing. It is from these ponctures his art creates a a sense of authenticity, his portraits become real, his faces become human"

“In my portraits I try to recreate a bridge between past and present cultures, set in modern framework according to the principles of ancient mosaics (...) Some pieces are missing, others are in disorder, just like the fragments of a childhood memory that is being reconstructed, or should I say, exorcised?"