Original artwork description:

64x84 cm | Filler, pine panel, cotton string, dried rose

This painting features a drawing of an old abandoned water tower from my childhood in Torshälla, Sweden.

It's titled Rudolf Meidner, after the renowned Swedish economist. Meidner worked within the Swedish Trade Union Confederation and played a pivotal role in shaping the economic policies of the Social Democratic Party during the post-war era.

He was also the architect behind the employee funds introduced by the government in 1982, despite fierce right-wing opposition. These funds may well have been the last truly socialist program advanced by the Social Democrats in Sweden. The idea was straightforward: to gradually transfer ownership of large companies from private hands to the public, using the companies’ own profits.

Yet the final version of the program fell far short of Meidner’s vision. He dismissed it as “a pathetic rat.” By then, neoliberal ideology had already reshaped public opinion, and the party adapted accordingly. In 1992, the funds were dismantled.

The work features a dried rose hanging from the top of the panel, perhaps referring to the lost promise of social democracy.

Materials used:

Filler (coarse and fine) in pine panel

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