Carolina Falkholt

Carolina Falkholt, also known under the pseudonym Blue, is a Swedish graffiti artist, painter, musician and poet based in Gothenburg, Sweden. Falkholt sometimes refers to her art, which is characterised by explicit depictions of naked female or male bodies, as ‘grafitta’ (a term coined by herself by combining the words ‘graffiti’ and ‘fitta’ [the latter, in Swedish, being a rude name for the female reproductive organ, meaning ‘cunt’ or ‘pussy’]).

The artist has stated that her work is intended to be perceived as a way of demonstrating female sexual power by provoking debate about the place art can have in public spaces. Falkholt’s way of achieving this has often been the result of her willingness to challenge general taste whilst stretching the limits of what is regarded as acceptable. Despite, or perhaps because of, this, Falkholt has in recent years received a number of commissions for public art, often in the form of, more or less, provocative murals.

Two recent examples of her much debated and often criticised public art could be illustrated by the works Fuck the World, a 2018 mural depicting an erect blue penis, covering five storeys of an apartment block on Kronobergsvägen in the Kungsholmen district of Stockholm, and Lesbisk häxhora (Lesbian Witch Whore), a 2021 mural depicting a female body with its back and naked bottom turned towards the onlooker and the head concealed in the red background (that could be perceived either as a rose or a vagina), covering four storeys of a building in Gothenburg. Both these works have since been painted over.

Falkholt was born in Gothenburg, Sweden, but grew up in the small rural community of Dals Långed, Dalsland, Sweden. As a teenager, Falkholt moved to Stockholm, where she began painting graffiti. She had already been interested in graffiti, however, whilst still living at home, prompting her mother (with a parent’s unfailing ability to mix up the references and expressions of younger generations) to occasionally ask, ‘Are you going out to graffita now?’ As a teenager, Falkholt was uncomfortable with the vulgar (and often derogatory) word ‘fitta’, but by referring to her art with the term ‘grafitta’, at a later stage, she felt that she was empowering the expression and reclaiming the word.

Falkholt experienced the climate of the graffiti scene in Stockholm to be an unhealthy, hard and cold environment, and by the mid-1990s, she therefore relocated to New York, where, as the only Swedish artist, she became a member of the two crews The Fantastic Partners and Hardcore Chickz. She also worked with graffiti artists like Sento and Lady Pink while creating paintings around New York for the record company Rawkus to earn a living. She eventually, thus, around the turn of the century, found herself to be one of Sweden’s most famous graffiti artists. After four years in New York, she returned to Sweden and settled in Gothenburg, where she is active today, working from a studio in the area of Nordstan, which she perceives as a rough urban location with associations to her years in New York.

In 2013, a busy year for the artist, Falkholt participated, with the project Firewall, in the X-Border biennial, showing her work in the three towns of Severomorsk, Russia; Rovaniemi, Finland; and Luleå, Sweden. This was also the year that she participated in the SVT (Swedish national public television) programme Konstkuppen, executed the 16-metre-long piece Wet Paint for Kulturhuset (House of Culture), Stockholm, and curated/participated as an artist in the exhibition Mynningsladdare (Muzzleloader) at Röda Sten konsthall, Gothenburg, Sweden.

Other exhibitions where Falkholt has served as a curator include Grafitta, Göteborgs konsthall, Gothenburg, Sweden (2008); Graffiti Mariestad, Mariestad, Sweden (2010); Street Art Österlen (2014), Skåne, Sweden; and (O)VÄSEN, Galleri Thomassen, Gothenburg, Sweden (2016).

Falkholt is also a musician and has released records as part of her artistic practice. In several projects she has initiated various forms of collaboration with other artists, musicians, the public and organisations. In 2016 she released the techno album Ord, ljud och kön (Word, Sound and Sex/Gender), followed by a number of singles as well as the 2021 EP Supervision; all releases have been produced on her own record label, Ord, ljud och kön. In 2023, Love x Attraction was released, an album in which Falkholt, through various lyrics, presents different perspectives on love.

Falkholt’s artistic career has been characterised by periods during which she has found it difficult to limit her creative output, sometimes to the detriment of her health. On three occasions (2009, 2017 and 2022), she has consequently suffered from psychosis, resulting in compulsory psychiatric treatment.

In 2021/2022, Falkholt attended the MFA programme at HDK Valand - Academy of Art and Design in Gothenburg, Sweden. However, she found it difficult to adapt to an environment with a strong academic focus on art and discontinued her studies after one year.

In autumn 2023, she legally changed her first name from Carolina to Blue, which had been her signature graffiti name for some time. The name change came about as a result of her desire to be more true to her own identity.

Over the years, Falkholt has executed several public works like T.E.S.T. (sculpture), Mariestad, Sweden (2011); Svaboda slova/Yttrandefrihet/Freedom of Speech, Alingsås, Sweden (2012); Social Architecture, Bengtsgården school, Bengtsfors, Sweden (2012); Flyktväg (Escape Route), Landvetter Airport, Gothenburg, Sweden (2013); Untitled, wallpainting for a kindergarten, Durres, Albania (2013); , hem (Coming Home), a writing/sculpture project with young refugees, Mariestad, Sweden (2013); Untitled, firewall, Skvallertorget, Avesta, Sweden (2013); Untitled, firewall, X-Border Art Biennial, Luleå, Sweden (2013); Untitled, firewall, X-Border Art Biennial, Rovaniemi, Finland (2013); Untitled, firewall, X-Border Art Biennial, Severomorsk, Russia (2013); firewall, Holmgatan, Härnösand, Sweden (2013); Fittskåpet (Cuntlocker), Söndrum High School, Söndrum, Halmstad, Sweden (2013); Pi, mural for Student dormitory Jakten, Halmstad, Sweden (2013); Ringmur, Visby, Sweden (2013); Övermålning (Overpainting), Women On Walls, Cairo (2014); no title, diptych, Gothia Towers, Gothenburg, Sweden (2014); Utopia, (Snow sculpture/painting/performance) Umeå, Sweden (2014); Övermålning (Overpainting), Alpha High School, Nyköping, Sweden (2014); Armlängds avstånd (Arm’s Length), Österlen Museum, Simrishamn, Sweden (2014); Untitled, firewall, Borås, Sweden (2014); techno techne teckna, monumental triptych, Uppsala, Sweden (2014); Untitled, firewall, Amman, Jordan (2014); sKRäp, Riggen Gröndal, Stockholm (2015); fountain, Cairo (2015); Landskapsmålning/Landscape painting, Hultsfred, Sweden (2015); Untitled, firewall, Ystad, Sweden; Pi, Ifö Center, Bromölla, Sweden (2015); Untitled, firewall, Park School, Ystad, Sweden (2015);FREE SPEECH, Facebook HQ, Stockholm (2015); TECHNE, Mimer House of Culture, Kungälv, Sweden (2016); No time for Baall$$, mural, New York, NY, U.S.A. (2017); Fuck the World, mural, Stockholm (2018); With My Pussy Vison I See Through Your Talk, mural, Stockholm (2018); God Giving a Fuck, Gothenburg, Sweden (2021); and Lesbisk häxhora (Lesbian Witch Whore), mural, Gothenburg, Sweden (2021).

Falkholt’s work is represented in, amongst others, the following public collections Gothenburg Museum of Art, Gothenburg, Sweden; Skissernas Museum-Museum of Artistic Process and Public Art, Lund, Sweden; Ystad Museum of Art, Ystad, Sweden; Skövde konsthall, Skövde, Sweden; Halland Museum of Cultural History, Varberg, Sweden; Dalsland Art Museum, Upperud, Sweden; Public Art Agency, Sweden; Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm; Halmstad Municipality, Sweden; Mariestad Municipality, Sweden; and Kungälv Municipality, Sweden.

Falkholt’s solo exhibitions include Blue, Gallery In Between, Malmö, Sweden (2009); När graffitin kom till byn, Klippans konsthall, Klippan, Sweden (2010); Materialutmattning, Gothenburg Museum of Art, Gothenburg, Sweden (2011); Lagerarbete, Steneby konsthall, Dalsland, Sweden (2012); Flyktiga vätskor, HL Gallery, Stockholm (2013); Wet Paint, Kulturhuset, Stockholm (2013); Min jävla fitta (My fucking cunt), Galleri Nils Åberg, Gothenburg, Sweden (2013); Frihand, Skissernas museum-Museum of Artistic Process and Public Art, Lund, Sweden (2014-2015); Hör mig för, Östersunds stadsmuseum, Östersund, Sweden (2015); Sociation, Kristinehamn Art Museum, Kristinehamn, Sweden (2015); Associationsrikedom, Ystad Art Museum, Ystad, Sweden (2015); O R D (W O R D), Hammarkullens konsthall, Gothenburg, Sweden (2016); ORD, LJUD OCH KÖN (WORD, SOUND AND GENDER), Kungälvs konsthall, Kungälv, Sweden (2016); ORD LJUD OCH KÖN (WORD SOUND AND GENDER), Eskilstuna Art Museum, Eskilstuna, Sweden (2017); Örat till marken (Ear to the Ground), Österängens konsthall, Jönköping, Sweden (2017); Din jävla hora (You Whore), Galleri Thomassen, Gothenburg, Sweden (2017); Havremagasinet, Boden, Sweden (2019); Severomorsk Museum, Murmansk oblast, Russia (2019).

To this could be added the following group exhibitions Ever wanting streets, Röda Sten konsthall, Gothenburg, Sweden (2004); Grafitta, Göteborgs konsthall, Gothenburg, Sweden (2007); Other Worlds, Skövde konsthall, Skövde, Sweden (2009); Other Worlds, Mjellby Art Museum, Halmstad, Sweden (2009); The Arcade Project, Y-gallery, Minsk (2011); Art of the Streets, Riksteatern, Stockholm (2011); Tillstånd (Condition/Permit), Alingsås konsthall, Alingsås, Sweden (2012); Mynningsladdare (Muzzleloader), Röda Sten konsthall, Gothenburg, Sweden (2013); X-Border Art Biennial, Luleå, Sweden (2013); X-Border Art Biennial, Rovaniemi, Finland (2013); X-Border Art Biennial, Severomorsk, Russia (2013); Heart & Brain, Avesta Art, Avesta, Sweden (2013); Spiritual styling, Gotland Art Museum, Visby, Sweden (2013); På armlängds avstånd (At Arm's Length), Örebro konsthall, Örebro, Sweden (2014); No Limit, Street Art Festival, Borås, Sweden (2014); Här/Nu (Here/Now), Artipelag, Stockholm (2014); Man måste faktiskt älska, Virserums konsthall, Virserum, Sweden (2015); Objektivitet, Kolingsborg, Stockholm (2015); Map of the new art, Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Venice, Italy (2015); Kontrapunkt, Havremagasinet, Boden, Sweden (2015); A LOT A LOT, Galleri Thomassen, Gothenburg, Sweden (2016); Fittkaos och Arkitektur - Scenario Domestica, Trollhättans konsthall, Trollhättan, Sweden (2016); Revision, 3:e våningen Konsthall, Gothenburg, Sweden (2017); SculptureMotion, Wanås Konst, Sweden (2017).

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