A new art installation on the side of a Fargo parking ramp examines the role of suits in society. Not suits, as in lawsuits, but suits, as in clothing, and the people underneath. The well dressed 32 foot tall man peering down from the parking ramp windows is the work of Swedish artist Maria Friberg.

	A new art installation on the side of a parking ramp in Fargo, N.D. It's called Atlanter, a reference to the Greek god Atlas, who held up the sky. In this case, the man in the suit is holding up society. See more images. (MPR Photo/Dan Gunderson)

Maria Friberg talks about suits as though they are alive. Her curiosity about suits was piqued in 1997 when a Stockholm businessman purchased a piece of her art. She says he was the first suit she had ever known, and she was intrigued.

"I'm really not trying to make fun of them. I'm more just looking at them, not judging," says Friberg. "Just like they are aliens from another planet...I'm really, honestly curious."

Since 1997, Friberg has created several projects focusing on men in suits. Much of her work is on display at the Plains Art Museum in Fargo, in conjunction with the downtown art installation.

The three-story parking ramp suit is her largest work. It's essentially a huge sticker, applied piece by piece, to the windows of the recently constructed parking ramp.

The man stands peering down at the street below, his hands braced against the roof beams just above his head. Friberg calls him Atlanter, a reference to the Greek god Atlas, who held up the sky.

"This is a modern man, so here he is more holding up the society. He is the pillar in the society. Also, he's kind of stuck in this structure. So he's very powerful, but he's trapped in it," says Friberg.

"He is...holding up society. He is the pillar in the society. Also, he's kind of stuck in this structure. So he's very powerful, but he's trapped in it." - Artist Maria Friberg

Friberg is interested in the suit as a shield that protects and confers power to the wearer. She's also intrigued by the vulnerability she sees reflected by suits.

"Normally it's a youth thing to hang out in groups and look the same, and then when you grow up you find your own personality," says Friberg. "But these suits, they kind of stay in this youth thing, this kind of group safety."

"If you should have a pink shirt this season, everyone has it. It's very groupy, like the whole group is moving forward slowly together," says Friberg.

Friberg says there's little individualism among suits. But there is a hierarchy.

"When I started to...know one of these suits, he said there were small signals on which level you were in the suit world. If you had a wrong sock matching to the suit, or the wrong tie - the color or the shape," says Friberg.

Friberg believes the suit is an icon of corporate and masculine power. A suit can change the way a person is perceived and treated. It also hides the individual.

Friberg doubts her quest to comprehend the suit will ever end. Like masculinity and power, she says, the suit is an ever-evolving part of society.

The Maria Friberg exhibit runs through Oct. 10. Friberg says the parking ramp is a perfect location. It's between two Fargo banks, so lots of suits will be passing by.

Plains Art Museum in Fargo More on the Friberg exhibition