The installations 'Ride 1;6 (Crash)' could be read as comments on the general impact popular culture, or more specifically, the entertainment industry that imposes on culture and society.
With a playful but somewhat mischievous attitude, Ride 1 has, since 2004, made the art world slightly insidious with their humorous interpretations of American pop culture. Installations of photography, video and rides - a kind of hybridization that will surprise the daredevil gallery visitor, make up a context where the divide between reality and fiction becomes uncertain. The installations could be read as comments on the general impact popular culture, or more specifically, the entertainment industry, with its intense adrenaline levels and taste for the spectacular, imposes on culture and society.
Postproduction and relational aesthetics are concepts that are of importance in the understanding of Ride 1. Stig Sjölund has in his own artistry been of great significance in introducing relational aesthetics in a Swedish context. Social aspects and the critique of social spaces are at the centre of relational aesthetics. Those elements are also distinctive themes in the works by Ride 1. But in the hands of Ride 1 the anarchistic stance, at times present in relational works, is further enhanced. Video, photography and rides are interrelated and create coherent environments where the visitors positions constantly shift between that of the passive spectator and an active agent, being part in the realisation of the works. The multilayered functions and duplication of roles are important factors in and of the works themselves as well as in experiencing them. A doubling where contrasts such as humor and seriousness, desires and dislikes, norms and deviance are constantly at hand. Lines and scenes tumble around in an unruly fashion. The recreated scenes, exposed side by side with the original movie clips, generate dislocations that are both illuminating and confusing. Carefully orchestrated expectations followed by equally meticulous crescendos – in movies as well as in rides.
Ride 1 is a cooperation that began working together in 2004. Ride 1 consist of Ronny Hansson (b. 1962), Jonas Kjellgren (b. 1962) och Stig Sjölund (b. 1955). Ronny Hansson has, in his own artistry, mainly worked in animation and installations. Jonas Kjellgrens works are equally transgressive when it comes to genres. Kjellgren has worked with photography as well as sculpture. Stig Sjölund was one of the members of Walldagruppen, one of the Swedish eighties’ most highly recognized artist collaborations.
Ride 1 has, among other exhibitions, shown at: Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt am Main; Frieze Art Fair, London; Nasjonalmuseet Museet for samtidskunst, Oslo; Museo Municipal, Madrid and at Moderna Museet, Stockholm.
Ride 1 is represented in the collections of Malmo Museer.
In conjunction with the show Lars Bohman Gallery publishes a catalogue with texts by Lars Bang Larsen.
Image: RIDE 1;6 (Crash)
Opening reception thursday november 6, 5 - 8pm
Lars Bohman Gallery
Karlavägen 9, 114 24 Stockholm, Sweden
Gallery Hours
Tuesday - Friday 12 - 6 pm.
Saturday - Sunday 12 - 4 pm.