Malmsteen

Simplifying to elemental features, Malmsteen removes detail to reveal the tension in our surroundings between our need for technology and distrust of it. His palette, usually focused and muted, contributes to a gritty, angular view bordering on abstraction. Much of his work represents the blur of existence, moving but not seeing: objects unheeded as we run down the sidewalk for an appointment; views barely noticed out the window as we drive past; life witnessed out of the corner of an eye.

Malmsteen’s subjects present the overpowering presence of technology; aggressive and angular, they exhibit a streak of fatalism and anxiety countered by their titles, which are often playful, ironic, or puzzling.

Malmsteen (also known as Malmsten and mlmstn) wrote a travelogue of his adventures in the ’90s that has become a local cult classic.