INTRECCI

In a succession of entanglements and reflections made of shared passions, from 27 June the splendid setting of the Galleria della Biblioteca Angelica in Rome welcomes the exhibition entitled INTRECCI by Isabella Laurell, Bengt Kristenson and Pontus Kristenson in which the exceptional contrast of the path of three figures linked in life as in art stands out.

Margherita and Lavinia, wife and daughter of Pontus, supporters of the exhibition, and the curator Anna Isopo, celebrate from 27 June to 5 July a dialogic form aimed at revealing the figures of three relatives, revealing a mixture of references and correlations between artistic expression and emotional bond, an exhibition therefore as an opportunity to tell a visual synthesis derived from travel scenarios linked by a family legacy.

As art historian Martina Scavone writes in the critical text: “A compelling family story, marked by love for art and for the Bel Paese. With its defined colors and warm tones, its natural and timeless views, Italy is where the couple finds the right inspiration, choosing it as a second homeland also for their son Pontus. The result is a broad and multifaceted production, characterized by various expressive means and materials, born from the union between Nordic soul and Mediterranean“.

Bengt Kristenson (1920-2004) studied at the Valand Academy of Fine Arts in Gothenburg, Sweden. Influenced by his long stays in the Capitol, his works collect landscape and figurative motifs from which a dreamlike, almost surreal world emerges. Many of his works are held at the National Museum in Stockholm, the Gothenburg Art Museum, the Kalmar Art Museum, the Malmö Museum, and other Swedish museums.

Isabella Laurell Kristenson (1921 – 2019), Swedish painter and graphic artist. After studying at the Valand School of Painting in Gothenburg from 1941 to 1946, she graduated in art history from the University of the same city in 1944. She then attended the Academy of Fine Arts in 1949 and the Scuola del Nudo in Rome. She exhibited in Stockholm and Göteborgs Konsthall, preferring city views, including Rome, ranging between oils and lithographs.

Pontus Kristenson (1953-2024) architect (and artist by passion) was born in Sweden, in Gothenburg. In 1960 he moved to Rome, graduating from La Sapienza University. After graduation he interned with Swedish architect Ralph Erskine. In 1994 he received a mention for participating in the International Competition “50 Churches for Rome.” His profession as an architect has taken him across Italian borders, working in Cairo, Saudi Arabia and Cuba.