This Sweet Sickness
dal 8/12/2004 al 30/1/2005
Segnalato da
Roger Andersson
Nathalie Djurberg
Jens Fange
Anders Jakobsen
Ylva Ogland
Johan Zetterquist
Ola Astrand
John Peter Nilsson
8/12/2004
This Sweet Sickness
Rhodes + Mann, London
A group show with 7 Swedish artists (including one furniture designer) that presents the other side of today's welfare state. All artists are dealing with issues that in the first place seem to be sweet, innocent and normal but with closer inspection are twisted, not only in a social and aesthetic way but also in a political way, sometimes with disturbing and horrifying results.
curated by John Peter Nilsson
Featuring works by: Roger Andersson, Nathalie Djurberg, Jens Fänge,
Lagombra [Anders Jakobsen] Ylva Ogland, Johan Zetterquist, Ola Ã…strand.
Rhodes + Mann are delighted to present a show of new work from Sweden
curated by John Peter Nilsson, recently appointed curator at the
Moderna Museet, Stockholm.
"This Sweet Sickness" is a group show with 7 Swedish artists
(including one furniture designer) that presents the other side of
today's welfare state. All artists are dealing with issues that in
the first place seem to be
sweet, innocent and normal but with closer inspection are twisted,
not only in a social and aesthetic way but also in a political way,
sometimes with disturbing and horrifying results.
Roger Andersson's drawings and prints refer to harmless decorative
styles but filled with fatal content; Nathalie Djurberg's videos
sardonically expose the underlying themes of sex and violence in
story-telling for
children; Jens Fänge's paintings often funnily point out the
closeness between bad taste and high aesthetics; Lagombra's (Anders
Jakobsen) furniture consist of one off creations made out of recycled
mass-produced IKEA-products; Ylva Ogland's paintings are beautiful
depictions of - heroin; Johan Zetterquist's sculptures and
installations propose imploded urban plans; Ola Ã…strand's screen
prints investigate different degrees of depression created by a
society without any social utopias.
The exhibition wants to investigate the paradox between how a modern
social welfare policy has created a secure, democratic cultural
climate at the same time as resulting in an artistic desire to
transgress accepted norms. All seven artists have had considerable
impact on the Swedish art Scene over the last two years, but have not
previously exhibited together. They also differ in age and artistic
background, but what brings them together is their common interest in
creating alternative micro worlds that can both be seen as a refuge
from existing society whilst holding a mirror to it.
The title derives from a novel by Patricia Highsmith from 1961 in
which a man can't let his ex-girlfriend go. He purchases a house and
furnishes it just as he knows she would like, then lies abed while
masturbating with the thought that "His house had the virtue of never
being lonely. He felt Annabelle's presence in every room."
The novel has nothing specific to do with the exhibition. It is more
the general idea about having a dream or vision - and the perversions
when these dreams or visions never happen as one might have wished.
It is a state of mind that might also be a metaphor for the state of
many societies today. A state of mind that artists both reflect and
try to deny.
John Peter Nilsson, Stockholm 2004
Gallery Closed for Xmas [20th December 2004 - 5 January 2005]
Gallery open Wed - Sat 11 - 6 and Sunday 12 - 6 or by appointment
Rhodes + Mann
37 Hackney Road Shoreditch London E2 7NX