Malin Basil
Artist, Author
My life as an artist started in Saudi Arabia in the early 70’s. It wasn’t planned, it happened unexpectedly and out of necessity. My plan had been to become a journalist, but fresh out of university I married and moved with my husband to Riyadh. The restrictions on women back then were suffocating, and a career in journalism was clearly not on the cards for me. I was confined to our house and could only venture outside together with my husband or some other escort. In order to keep my sanity, I bought myself some poster paints (proper art materials were not available) and started to make little sketches of what I saw around me.
My artistic style was quite naive to begin with, since I had had no formal art training. It gradually developed into some form of “distilled realism”, where important details were very accurately depicted, while what I considered unimportant was simply omitted. This eventually led me towards the style of painting called “trompe l’oeil”, fooling the eye using light and shadows. I have a house with a studio on the Greek island of Paros, and I never cease to get inspired by how the sunlight is filtered through branches and foliage down onto the roughly whitewashed walls, or how it is reflected by the shimmering turquoise sea below my terrace. I have lived in many different parts of the world, and the subjects of my paintings have varied, but the light and the shadows have always been a central theme. In 2017 I moved back to Sweden after almost a lifetime abroad. I settled in the little coastal town of Norrtalje, where I have my studio plus run a small art gallery in the basement of my house.
I was fascinated by the country and the collision between the ancient Muslim lifestyle and the rapidly growing influence of our Western consumer obsessed society. Taking photographs in the city was very much frowned upon, so drawing and painting seemed the best way to depict what was happening in the country. I painted the Bedouin coming into town with their camels in pickup trucks, the women and children peering out behind doors, curious about the world outside and desperate to be part of it. And I painted the red-hot sunlight and the deep purple shadows of the desert. The play between light and shadows captivated me from the start, it still does.
PAST SHOWS
2023 Rånäs Castle, SWEDEN
2023 Lilla Galleriet , Norrtälje SWEDEN
2023 Örbyhus Castle, SWEDEN
2022 Tierp’s Cultural Centre, SWEDEN
2022 Lilla Galleriet, Norrtälje, SWEDEN
2021 Örbyhus Castle, SWEDEN
2020 Lilla Galleriet, Norrtälje, SWEDEN
2019 Örbyhus Castle, SWEDEN
2018 Lilla Galleriet, Norrtälje, SWEDEN
2014 The Old Manor Gallery, Somerset, ENGLAND
2012 The Old Manor Gallery, Somerset, ENGLAND
2010 The Old Manor Gallery, Somerset, ENGLAND
PAST SHOWS
2009 Sacred Space Gallery, London, ENGLAND
2001 Weatherburn Gallery, Naples, Florida, USA
1998 Rooksmore Gallery, Bath, ENGLAND
1992 Galleri Beckman, Stockholm, SWEDEN
1992 Cadogan Contemporary, London, ENGLAND
1987 Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA
1982 Siyanco, Riyadh, SAUDI ARABIA
1981 Siyanco, Riyadh, SAUDI ARABIA
1980 Heritage Gallery, Al Khobar, SAUDI ARABIA
1979 Al Malaz, Riyadh, SAUDI ARABIA
1977 Patrick Seale Gallery, London, ENGLAND
1972 Al Malaz, Riyadh, SAUDI ARABIA
COLLECTIONS WHERE REPRESENTED
Private collection of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden
Private collections of the Saudi Arabian royal family
MAJOR COMMISSIONS
Regency-Hyatt House Hotel, DUBAI, 1980 (Prints throughout the hotel)
Portomirina Hotel. Limnos, GREECE, 1995-96 (Prints in all bedrooms, original art work in lobbies and restaurants)