Miriam Backstrom
dal 12/1/2006 al 24/2/2006
Segnalato da
12/1/2006
Miriam Backstrom
Nils Staerk, Copenhagen
The Viewer. The work is the second film by the artist and was presented for Sweden at the Nordic Pavilion, Venice Biennial 2005. Her work has over the years largely been associated with photography, examplified in her series of works Estate of a Deceased Person, 1992-1996, Set Constructions, 1995-2002, and Museums, Collections and Reconstructions, 1999-2004, which all deal with the representation of reality and the reading and interpretation of images.
The Viewer
We are pleased to present a new exhibition by Miriam Backstrom.
The film The Viewer was produced for the Gothenburg Biennial in Sweden in September 2005, and is now shown in Denmark for the first time. The work is the second film by the artist and her first major work to be presented since she represented Sweden at the Nordic Pavilion, Venice Biennial 2005.
Miriam Backstrom’s work has over the years largely been associated with photography, examplified in her
series of works Estate of a Deceased Person, 1992-1996, Set Constructions, 1995-2002, and Museums,
Collections and Reconstructions, 1999-2004, which all deal with the representation of reality and the reading
and interpretation of images. Backstrom’s photographs question the veracity of photography by exposing a
staged reality and creating doubt on the immediacy of the image. The series mentioned are all characterized
by the absence of people, yet they often discuss different approaches to portraiture. This field of interest
Backstrom has continued to investigate in her more recent work that has marked a change of both medium
and content, including text and book-, sound- and film works.
In 2004, Miriam Backstrom presented her first film Rebecka (DVCam 42 min.) at her solo exhibition with the
same title at Museum fur Gegenwartskunst in Basel, Switzerland. The film is based on an interview between
the Swedish actress Rebecka Hemse and the artist where subtle visual signs and dialogue expose to the
spectator that it is no ordinary interview, but rather a matter of role playing and thus a blend of fact and
fiction. The film was accompanied by the book and sound work Anonymous Interviews, and the notion of
the anonymous is further investigated in the exhibition and book The Last Image at the Moderna Museet in
Stockholm, Sweden and as well in the book All Images of an Anonymous Person, published on occasion of
the Venice Biennial 2005.
The new film The Viewer (HDV 68 min.) once again features Rebecka Hemse, but this time together with a
second actor, Tomas Ponte'n. As where in Rebecka the actress obviously is presented with the script for the
first time when the director turns on the camera, the script in The Viewer is improvised and a result of
discussions between the actors and Backstrom during the process of filming. Thus, the dialogue evolves just
as much based on the directors notes for the characters as on the personal reflections of the actors. The film
moves in the grey zone between the staged and what we would call reality, and as such dissolve the border
of when we act and when we are ourselves. The two actors find themselves in a complex drama in a sort of
therapeutic milieu. Reflections and discussions on the topics of role playing and the self are heard as
individual monologes, and the use of simultaneous voice over add new layers to the staging and
construction of reality, as well as producing different levels of the characters’ / actors’ identities.
Miriam Backstrom (Born 1967 in Stockholm, Sweden) has the last two years participated in exhibitions at
the 51st Venice Biennial, IT; Museum fur Gegenwartskunst in Basel, CH; Gothenburg Biennial, S, Elba Benitez
Gallery, Madrid, ES; Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb, IASPIS, Stockholm, S; Kunsthallen Brandts,
Odense, DK; MARCO, Vigo, ES; Wood Street Galleries, Pittsburg, US; Royal College of Art, London, UK;
Centro Cultural Banco Do Brasil, Rio de Janeiro, BRA. 2005 her films has been shown at the 22nd Kasseler
Dokumentarfilm- und Videofest, Kassel, Germany, and at the 34th International Film Festival Rotterdam, the
Netherlands.
For further information on the artist and the exhibition, please contact Jesper N. Jorgensen: phone: +45 3254 4562 . email: jesper@nilsstaerk.dk
ARCO’06 - Madrid Art Fair
It's with great pleasure that we announce our participation in ARCO’06, February 9th - 13th We will present
works by Martin Bigum, Olaf Breuning, Miriam Backstrom, Jeremy Dickinson, Gardar Eide Einarsson, Mads
Gamdrup, Nils Erik Gjerdevik, Richard Hughes, Jone Kvie, Torbjorn Rodland and Superflex.
Preview: friday, January 13th, 17-19
NILS STERK CONTEMPORARY ART
Njalsgade 19C . 2300 Copenhagen VAT: DK-20382872
Open: tue-fri 12-17, sat 12-15 and by appointment