All I Want for Christmas is a Lasse Åberg
Exhibition Opening August 25, 2011 @ 6:00 pm
Exhibition Opening August 25, 2011 @ 6:00 pm
Imorgon kl. 18:00 - den 28 augusti kl. 17:00
This August Galleri Rotor will host a solo exhibition of work by Lasse Åberg (Swedish, b. 1940). The exhibition, All I Want for Christmas is a Lasse Åberg, is based around a character study of the artist's prolific and multi-disciplinary practice. Lasse Åberg, a life-long resident of Sweden, has built a career and reputation for himself in this country as an artist, filmmaker, actor, musician, owner of Åbergs Museum and collector of kitsch souvenirs and toys. He came from a working class background and began making art by copying cartoons as a child. In 1961 he attended Konstfack to study graphic design. Though Åberg is a popular artist, he is often viewed as an outsider in the contemporary art world, much like his filmic alter ego Stig-Helmer, a character who is always the humble outsider.
In a recent interview between the curators and the artist, Åberg stated, “the problem with my art is that people understand me.” This exhibition investigates this ‘problem’. Åberg’s work has achieved popular and commercial success and has been featured on many consumer products; however, this has placed his work on the fringe of the contemporary art world while simultaneously creating a clash between high and low cultures. The tenuous position between high and low art production is addressed by the artist in the imagery he uses, often melding Disney cartoon characters with art historical icons such as Mondrian, Duchamp and Miro.
All I Want for Christmas is a Lasse Åberg transforms the gallery space into an over-the-top domestic Christmas interior in which to present the various roles of Åberg as an artist. This tacky setting reflects Åberg's preoccupation with notions of taste and highlights the role that consumer culture plays in his art. Åberg's work often functions as Christmas presents in the form of consumer products such as mugs, puzzles, and prints, therefore arguably making him one of the most widely collected artists in Sweden and subsequently assigning the role of private art collectors to the masses. The domestic setting of this exhibition pays homage to late 19th and 20th century private collector museums and modes of display (often within the domestic interior of the collector’s home) and suggests an “everyday” version of this form of display among Åberg's private collectors.
All I Want for Christmas is a Lasse Åberg is an exhibition produced by students in the summer 2011 course, Galleri Experimentell: Curating and Cultural Production Strategies, at Valand School of Fine Art.
Curated by Jasmin Daryani (Sweden), Laura Hatfield (Canada) and Beatrice Marklund (Sweden)
Galleri Rotor: Valand School of Fine Art
Vasagatan 50 (Entrance on Teatergatan)
Inga kommentarer:
Skicka en kommentar