Of Swedish and Malagasy origin, Elsa Åkesson was born and raised in Madagascar. From the moment she was born in 1996, she formed a strong attachment to this land in the Indian Ocean, which would remain her main family and emotional home and exert a major influence on her creative work. After studying in Switzerland, she enrolled in business school in Madrid, which she decided to leave behind to pursue her true passion: painting. She moved to London and obtained her fine arts degree from the University of the Arts London in 2020, followed by a Master's in Art Business from Sotheby's Institute in New York in 2022. Since then, Elsa has worn several hats: painter and young entrepreneur in the art market. She has created her own company, Spongy Bags®, which develops sustainable artistic packaging. In 2022, she won the Sotheby's Institute Gavel Award, and in 2023, she received the Forbes 30 Under 30 award for her environmentally friendly solution.
EXHIBITIONS
Solo exhibitions
2024 Hopefully Art, Madrid, Espagne
2023 Rothschild & Co. et Monaco Art & Co., Monaco
2022 International Art Fair Barcelona, Spain
2019 Cercle Suédois. Paris, France
2019 Collaboration avec Hästens, South Kensington Gallery. London, UK
Group exhibitions
2024 - Alpina Hotel, Gstaad, Switzerland
2022 - Portrait of Hope: Portrait of Elsa, Auction, Art Research. Paris, France
2022 - UAL Fine Art Alumni 2020, College of Arts. London, UK
2021 - Artsy & the Ruth Borchard Collection. London, UK
2020 - Penultimatum, UAL | Chelsea College of Arts. London, UK
2020 - Copeland Gallery. London, UK
2020 - International Art Gallery. Marbella, Spain
2019 - Josephine Clavel Gallery. London, UK
Complete list available on www.elsaakesson.org
DISTINCTIONS
- Award winner FORBES 30 UNDER 30, 2023
- Short listed for the Signature Art Prize 2021
- Finalist of the People's Choice Award 2021
- Nominated for the Self Portrait Prize, Ruth Borchard Collection 2021
- Short listed for the Royal Academy's Summer Exhibition 2021
