The exhibition was partly retrospective as the eleven works shown were made over a period of 10 years. After the Textile Museum in Borås, the exhibition moves on to the Jamtli Museum in Östersund and then to Södertälje konsthall. In a letter to Kristina Möller from Rolf Danielsson, then museum director of the Textile Museum in Borås, it is stated that the exhibition occupies an area of approx. 400sqm, Södertälje konsthall had at this time an exhibition area of 450 square metres, which was approx. twice as large as today 2024. The opening hours were generous, during the summer months Monday – Friday 10 – 18 Saturday 11 – 14 and from September it was open on Sundays 12 – 16. During the installation of the exhibition, Monica herself was on site, working 12-13 hours a day

The exhibition was highly spatial. In her works, she switches between different techniques and pushes the boundaries of working with sound, light, movement and installation. Jonas Löfventdahl in Göteborgsposten writes:

“Her perforated textiles, often unconventionally lit, create beautiful shadow plays that make the exhibition stand out. She finds inspiration everywhere. – ‘I see fabrics and textiles around me and I get ideas about how I want to change it, redo it.The light and air probably come from my northern heritage. Monica Nilsson herself does not know whether she should be called a textile artist or a light artist; she prefers to cross boundaries and not get stuck in any pigeonhole.

The textile materials are often described as plastic, in the form of polyester, perforated and painted monolen, synthetic organza, tulle. In one of her works, Flickan ovanpå, she is inspired by Marilyn Monroe’s classic scene from the film of the same name. A rotating machine with a fan makes a disco ball with a white pleated skirt around it inflate. In another piece, placed in a corner, a TV set is wrapped into a ball. Wrapped in many layers of green tulle, it glows with energy, like a planet.

This is how Maja Hammarén describes for Mitt i Södertälje the feeling of visiting Södertälje konsthall in the July heat during the exhibition:

“Upstairs is the coolness of Södertälje konsthall. And an exhibition that breathes cool Jämtland evening – in the middle of the heat. It’s strange to step into the art completely without frames. Stepping straight in from the pedestrian street, to seek shade from the sun over the centre.”

Monica Nilsson was born in Östersund and educated at Jämtslöjds Kvinnliga slöjdskola, the Textile Institute, Konstfack’s textile programme and the Fachhochschule in Hamburg. At the time of the exhibition, she was represented in Södertälje municipality’s collection with the work Not in the mood, a textile print purchased in 1979. The exhibition then travelled from Södertälje to Ronneby.

Sources: Konsthallens archive. Text and compilation Anneli Karlsson