THE UNWRITTEN QUARTERLY WILL BE IN THE SHOW “COPY.RIGHT?” AT 33 CONTEMPORARY GALLERY IN CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
My newsprint magazine The Unwritten Quarterly will be part of a show opening on February 15 at 33 Contemporary Gallery in Chicago. The show, “copy.right?,” is juried and curated by Sergio Gomez (33 Contemporary Gallery director) and Jennifer Moore (photographer). The show will be up until March 9, 2013.
The Unwritten Quarterly is a magazine dedicated to the fabrication of life and the editor of the magazine, one Bernardo Soares, could be said to be a darker version of myself. In his editorial letter he writes: “I once created a writer, whom I used as a tool, so that I could eventually make myself into nothing. I made myself into nothing so that I could become everything and everyone. I am several, am many, I am a profusion of selves. In the process I may have lost myself. But what I really gained was the possibility of becoming anyone.” Herein lies the clue to the nature of the magazine. As an artist I have taken the shape of many different characters, many of whom have been created by others. One example would be the article written by Gregor Samsa – the struggling insect in Kafka’s novel “Metamorphosis.” But in my article he managed to escape his apartment and is now living in the nearby park. The literary components of the magazine are to some degree built upon existing fiction. The images are likewise built upon existing material, but in this case I have created composited images based on photographs found browsing the Internet.
Curatorial statement:
As long as there have been artists, there have been artists who appropriate. To appropriate is to borrow elements in the creation of new work. Appropriation recontextualises whatever it borrows to create something new. In some cases the original ‘thing’ remains accessible as the original, without change, but in other cases, the new work takes on a completely different facade and ultimately new meaning. Thus, blurring the line of what is fair usage and challenging the implications of copyright laws. The practice of appropriation can be traced back before the Renaissance, but became popular with the Surrealists, Dadaists, Pop Artists and the Neo-Geo Artists when mass production became a cultural norm.
Art is not created in a bubble. Artists are influenced by almost everything: the internet, television, literature, history, news and even other artists. The “copy.right?” exhibition seeks to give forum to contemporary artists who explore the idea of appropriation through concept, materials, awareness and who also challenge global mass culture.
“THE 3RD INTERNATIONAL AND NATIONAL JURIED PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION” AT VIRIDIAN ARTIST IN NEW YORK CITY
I am excited that my work will be represented in “The 3rd National and International Juried Photography Exhibition,” (the juror was Nat Trotman, Curator, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum) at the NYC Chelsea gallery Viridan Artists. The exhibition will take place Feb 5 – Feb 23, 2013. There were 514 artworks submitted out of which the juror picked a selection of 25 photographs. The work that I will show will be a serie of eight photographs from the project Cellar in the Attic.
“REPORTED MISSING” SOLO EXHIBITION AT UNSPEAKABLE PROJECTS IN SAN FRANCISCO
I am happy to announce my first US Solo Exhibition, opening up on Thursday, November 15 at Unspeakable Projects in San Francisco. The show will be on view through Saturday, December 8.
In “Reported Missing” I am inviting the viewer to visit a parallel world filled with people who are truly lost. Characters gone missing from the world, specifically extracted from an archive of people reported missing, has become fragmented and dissolved. In a process of layered composites they have pushed through into possible realms and formed new identities. The observer gets to participate in the extraordinary and paradoxical event where characters briefly reunite to prove that they are no longer lost. The fragments of what once disappeared have been pieced together and a new world has opened up.
CELLAR IN THE ATTIC IN LOS ANGELES AND FORT COLLINS
I am happy that my photographic series will be showed at two places this summer. Opening on June 2nd, and on display through July 1st, Danielle Sommer has curated my piece into the show “Pop-Up Library: The Collectors” at Monte Vista Projects in Los Angeles, California. 42 of my photographs will be represented.
To investigate an experience, we often turn to its physical detritus. We collect it, savor it, fetishize it, or even reproduce it. If none exists, we will go so far as to create it. Pop-Up Library: The Collectors features artists working with the idea of collecting or archiving. Each artist or group featured has been struck by a particular moment, place, experience, or event. Each artist has found his or her own way of attempting to return to the moment, to freeze or expand it, to critique it or reproduce it.
12 photographs from the same series will be on display in the show “illusions” at The Center for Fine Art Photography in Fort Collins, Colorado. The show will be up between August 3rd to September 1st and I am proud to be the recipient of the “Director’s Selection.”
Illusion: A false idea or belief, a deceptive appearance or impression, something that betrays by producing misleading impressions of reality. Synonyms: delusion – hallucination – phantasm – phantom – mirage.
“FICCIONES” AT KROWSWORK GALLERY IN OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA
I’m very excited to be part of a three-person show at the amazing Krowswork Gallery in Oakland. My installation will introduce the butterfly lady Margot Waltz. Gallery director Jasmine Moorhead writes about my contribution, “Waltz’s story is told from the perspective of the artist, now serving the role of reporter. To understand her subject Rödén lived for two weeks with three housemates whose interactions with Waltz, a sometime visitor in their home, had changed their own relationship to each other. A series of articles and dialogues with the tenants, some of which were published in The New Yorker and Cabinet, craft a portrait of Waltz, while helping us understand her untimely death and the mysterious Butterfly Bush that is the focal point of the memorial at the gallery. Rödén’s deft handling of a complexly layered narrative makes the illusion seamless and guides us to situate ourselves as a literal part of every story.”
Opening reception for the artists Saturday, May 12, 6-9 pm
On view May 12 – June 16, 2012
480 23rd Street-side entrance, Oakland, California
Read full press release here.
SKOWHEGAN SUMMER RESIDENCY IN MAIN
Out of the 2056 applicants to the Skowhegan Summer Residency, I am very excited to belong to the 3 percent that were accepted! Skowhegan is an intensive nine-week summer residency program for emerging visual artists established in 1946. The residency is located in Maine, and will take place between June 9 to August 11, 2012.
“FORÅRSUDSTILLIGEN 2012” AT KUNSTHAL CHARLOTTENBORG IN COPENHAGEN, DENMARK
February 24th is the opening for Forårsudstillingen 2012 (The Spring Exhibition 2012) at Kunsthal Charlottenborg in Copenhagen, Denmark. Four of my photographs were included in the exhibition, all from the series “A Reunion of Lost People.” Forårsudstillingen is one of the most important open submission exhibitions in Europe, and has been held annually in Copenhagen since 1857. The exhibition is held at “one of the largest and most beautiful spaces for contemporary art in Europe.” For the Spring Exhibition 2012 there were 715 applicants. 70 artists have been selected, including 66 first-time participants and a total of 92 works. The youngest artist was born in 1990 and the oldest in 1949. 31 artists come from Denmark, 15 from the rest of the Nordic region, 18 from other European countries, and 6 from other countries around the world. The end date for the exhibition is May 6th, 2012.
“2011 ANNUAL JURIED EXHIBITION” AT CoCA, SEATTLE
From December 29, 2011- March 18, 2012, CoCA (Center on Contemporary Art) in Seattle, will present its 22nd annual juried exhibition and two of my artworks were included in the show. There is no theme to the show, but they were looking for work that experiments and explores in general, crossing disciplinary boundaries, challenging established notions of time and space, cultural production, and the objet d’art itself. For this year’s 22nd anniversary of the show, CoCA had the artist Gary Hill as juror. 16 artists were selected.
“SPHERE OF INFLUENCE” AT WORTH RYDER GALLERY, BERKELEY
From February 15 – March 5, 2012 I am part of four-person show at the Worth Ryder Gallery in Berkeley, California. In the show, “Sphere of Influence,” each one of us has selected an artwork from the permanent collection of the Berkeley Museum to work and reflect upon. Participating artists are Rachel Dawson, Bean Gilsdorf, Sarah Hotchkiss, and Ida Rödén.
THE WASSAIC PROJECT
For the months of November and December I will be one of the Wassaic Project’s winter residents. The Wassaic Project is located in a refurbished mill and animal auction house located in southeast New York State. For two months I will create art based on research revolving butterflies and the character of Lewis Mumford, an American historian, philosopher, and literary critic.
“VISIONS,” SACRAMENTO FINE ARTS CENTER
A photography from the series “A Reunion of Lost People” will be exhibited at the Sacramento Fine Arts Center between November 1st and November 19. The show, “Visions – 2011 Sacramento Fine Arts Center Juried Photography Show” was juried by Terry Nathan, a photographer whose work centers on architecture, landscape, documentary and art/science fusion.
PERSONA, DARKROOM GALLERY
“Persona” is a group show at the Darkroom Gallery (formerly Vermont Photo Space Gallery) in Essex, Vermont. “Soccer Team – Peter Kronblad,” was chosen to be part of the exhibition. “Chris Buck chose 46 images beyond the traditional portrait – more than just a eloquently captured face. They include uncanny, parody, distortions, subtle suggestions and in-your-face implications.” The opening is Tuesday September 13, 5-7pm and the show will be up until October 7.
PROOF, SOUTHERN EXPOSURE
“Proof” is the 2011 Juried Exhibition at Southern Exposure in San Francisco, California. It marks the 20th Anniversary of SoEx’s Juried Program series. The juror was Denise Markonish, curator at MASS MoCA in North Adams, Massachusetts. With over 500 submissions, “A Reunion of Lost People” was selected to be part of the exhibition. The opening is Friday September 16, 6-9pm and the show will be up until October 8.
