Visual artist, performer, and singer/songwriter Paulina Wallenberg-Olsson explores the intersection of art, music, fashion, and performance. Her creative/performance/musical project, Grebnellaw (her name spelled backward), is a fantastical explosion of red and white. A sort of theatrical performance that’s hard to pinpoint, which is exactly what Wallenberg-Olsson aims at.
“On my website my slogan is ‘Not Art Not Music Not Fashion Not Performance,’” she told Totally Stockholm, adding: “I guess it’s a provocative statement saying, that maybe my work is a hybrid of all those disciplines. In Grebnellaw I work with all those genres but for me the core is song-writing. The songs are what make the wheels spin and that generate all the performance activities.”
Her performances have been showcased around the world in some of the most prestigious venues, which include the Guggenheim Museum, MoMA, and the Coliseum in Rome.
An ongoing creative process that uses pop music, visual art, and performative elements to address contemporary issues, it also acts as a liberating force from social pressure and prejudice with ad-hoc performances that happen in the moment. The performances are site-specific, using the “three-minute-pop song” format and a red and white color code to communicate an easily recognizable style.
Talking about her inspiration, Wallenberg-Olsson recalled: “I think while growing up I had a volume of The Red and the Black by Stendahl in my bookshelf and later it was referenced by Jacques Brel in his song ‘Me Me Quitte Pas’. I actually never read the book, but I was intrigued by the title, the anarchist colours. For me, I thought red and white would make a more relevant marriage – it’s minimalistic, a reduction, a way to deal with the multiple choices of capitalism. It’s also saying we’re pretty – but don’t eat us, we are deadly!”
We highly suggest you check them out.
