Klara Lidén

Klara Lidén is a Swedish contemporary artist, born in 1979, whose work challenges conventional understandings of urban space, architecture, and human behavior through a conceptual and often subversive approach. Known for her installations, performances, and video works, Lidén frequently repurposes found objects and materials from urban environments, exploring how public and private spaces are constructed and navigated. Her work confronts social norms and draws attention to the boundaries of acceptable behavior, questioning how individuals interact with and conform to the structures around them.Lidén first gained international recognition with her project Paralyzed (2003), a video piece in which she performs an awkward, frenzied dance in a public space. This work highlights her interest in disrupting the everyday through spontaneous and often disruptive actions. By placing her body in public settings where such expressions of freedom or vulnerability are not typically allowed, she exposes the constraints of social behavior and the invisible rules that govern public life. Lidén’s performances and installations often involve a physical element, challenging notions of control, order, and the role of the individual within the city.Her use of found objects and urban detritus in installations underscores her engagement with the material reality of the city. In works like Untitled (Poster Painting), Lidén covers layers of posters ripped from walls in urban spaces with white paint, transforming them into minimalist, abstract compositions. These works emphasize the transient and disposable nature of urban life while also drawing attention to the layers of history and human activity embedded within the fabric of the city.Lidén’s architectural interventions often focus on reclaiming or repurposing overlooked or abandoned spaces. In her piece Unheimlich Manoeuvre (2007), she constructed a hidden living space inside an abandoned building in Berlin, where she lived temporarily, blurring the lines between art, survival, and personal space. By inhabiting and transforming neglected urban areas, Lidén questions the ways in which cities regulate access to space, as well as the possibilities for creating alternative forms of living within these controlled environments.Klara Lidén has exhibited widely in major institutions, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Serpentine Gallery in London, and the Venice Biennale. Her work is often described as both provocative and introspective, using minimal interventions to evoke broader reflections on urban life, architecture, and human behavior. Through her radical reimagination of space and social interaction, Lidén continues to challenge how we perceive and inhabit the cities we live in.