Klas Eriksson Following Paranoid
Exhibition No 27 | 2012
4 October — 27 October
Nordin Gallery Exhibition No 27 | 2012 Klas Eriksson b.1976 in Stockholm, Sweden Lives and works in Stockholm, Sweden. Portrait photo: Clara Gesang-Gottowt
Klas Eriksson Following Paranoid About Klas Eriksson
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Klas Eriksson is interested in control, power and limitations. He expresses himself through performance, video and sculpture. Klas Eriksson’s point of departure is mass-culture, where, employing various strategies, he explores our notions of authenticity, power and artistic expression.
Madeleine Aleman Andrei Craciun Barbro Eriksson Lars Eriksson Per Eriksson Clara Gesang-Gottowt Juan-Pedro Fabra Guemberena John Hellberg Razvan Ion Fredrik Jansson Axel Nordin Olav Westphalen
Klas Eriksson has always enjoyed doing his own thing, establishing a communicative immediacy, which is both visually and conceptually innovative. His works often borrow their expressions from popular culture, subculture and various power structures. Klas Eriksson took his MFA at the Royal Insitute of Fine Art in Stockholm 2010. Recent appearances include the Copenhagen Art Festival (2012), Bucharest Biennale 5 (2012), Gothenburg International Biennale (2011). He has been an artist in residence at IASPIS Swedish Art Council 2010 and was rewarded the IASPIS assitent grant in 2011, assisting Juan-Pedro Fabra Gumeberena in Berlin. In November-December 2012 he will be a resident at Platform in Finland, and has an upcoming solo exhibition at Kalmar Konstmuseum in the summer of 2013. More on the artist can be found at www.klaseriksson.org
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Baton Machine Year: 2009 Machine sculpture Photo: Oscar Furbacken
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Comón You Reds Year: 2012
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Collective Performance Photo: Sebastian Nitulescu
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Curva Viola Year: 2012
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Performance Photo: Sebastian Nitulescu
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“Eriksson explores in his prac the social and political, relate relations, limitations ”
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ctice aspects of ed to control, power
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Uncovered in smoke
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Uncovered in smoke By Andrei Craciun
While the contemporary art practice that engages the socio-political realm is divided between exploiting the power of questioning and the power of action as alternative solution, there are few artists who position their practice somewhere in the middle. Klas Eriksson is one of them.
generating the stage of unpredictable further development. One could easily identify the stripped means of communication specific to mass culture, incorporated in the infrastructure of his art, but with a self-ironical twist, that inflicts both on the artist, as well as the viewer.
His art aggressively intrudes the viewer’s space, while tackling social and political aspects of one’s daily life, usually in a comic and entertaining matter. His approach transcends questioning as a suggestion, but refuses to impose an autonomous model of action, even a hypothetical one. His practice stimulates public debate, while asking for responsible acknowledgment and further participation from the public.
The resulting set is characterized by it’s assimilation capacity, transforming the present viewer, the space, the reactions, into constituent elements of the work itself. Even though, at first glance, due to the simple and raw aesthetics, usually projected at large scales, one could interpret the work as being more poetic, longer exposure reveals the links between the symbolistic and the context,
A powerful aspect of Klas Eriksson’s artistic practice, is the disproportional relation between the minimal effort as means of production and the level of impact that his work has, over the attending public. This happens due to the blown up aesthetics, or higher level of intrusiveness within public space, exploiting stripped iconic symbols, pulled out of their natural context, from mass culture and subcultures as well, involving different demographics as possible audience, in strictly limited time and space. His approach transforms his works, either performances or installations, in temporary structures of exposure and debate, sometimes reaching to a monumental state. Eriksson explores in his practice aspects of the social and political, related to control, power relations, limitations. He extracts his strategies of approach from mass culture, while tackling identity factors of subcultures and involving the history and architecture of the site. Through the expression power of performance art, installations and video, he creates ironical and aggressive situations that require from the public contemplation and participation. Rituals specific to the football terrace, clubbing and anarchist youth subcultures are usually present in his works, as fetishist aesthetic elements that will stimulate the audience and engage collective consciousness. Klas Eriksson explores mass culture in order to identify resources for his conceptual frame, as well as ways to approach and engage the public. He sets up the premises of his works using clean symbolic elements that he links with the architectural, historical and institutional contextual frame,
“...This holistic approach underlines the monumental character of Eriksson’s work...” simulating familiar situations and inducing a feeling of appurtenance, that transforms the viewer into the relevant participant. This holistic approach underlines the monumental character of Eriksson’s work, with emphasis on both commemorative reflection and critical reaction. I had the chance, not only to experience his art, but the whole process of production for two of his performances, commissioned for Bucharest Biennale 5, curated by Anne Barlow. The first performance, Com’on you Reds, took place during the opening of the biennale, in the University Square, an important landmark of Bucharest, a symbol of freedom. During the action, 100 volunteers occupied the top 14 floors of Intercontinental Hotel, which dominates through its height Bucharest’s center, and simultaneously burned red flares for approximately 4 minutes. The 5 stars hotel is also an important landmark and symbol of Bucharest, before ‘89 was considered the monument of luxurious living and an exponent of the western cosmopolitan life, when it functioned as a hotel designated only for foreigners.
regarding the historical context of the site, as well as with the recent protests that took place in January in the University Square, when the ultras from the most important football clubs from Bucharest and the near cities had an important and controversial role during the events, as politically maneuvered agitators and instigators to violence on one side, and first line of defense against the gendarmerie abuses on the other. Few protesters continued to occupy the square after January. They were present in the square, protesting, in the evening of May 24, 2012, when for 4 minutes, Klas Eriksson, with the participation of 100 volunteers, transformed Intercontinental Hotel in a spectacularly flaming temporary sculpture. He continued the same conceptual approach for his second performance, titled Curva Viola, the name of the ultras of Fiorentina football club. It took place the next day at Make a Point, one of the venues of the biennale, a community cultural center, an independent initiative, located in an ex communist textile factory, situated in Pantelimon, one of the disadvantaged areas of Bucharest. This time he took the role of the performer, when he lighted several violet and pink smoke bombs in the courtyard of the factory, marking the community center’s presence within the neighborhood. The performance intended to simulate an action of the italian ultras during a football game, that the artist got to know through some b&w xeroxed photographs, emphasizing the role of reconstruction, intending to raise awareness over the social importance that such areas have in the city context. One of the guards from the factory became a constituent part of the performance when he tried to stop Klas Eriksson from covering the grey communist neighborhood in violet and pink smoke, considering that this action will undermine his authority and periclitate his position within the insitution. Andrei Craciun, cultural manager, he studies anthropology at Bucharest University. He curated his recent projects “Destroying Public Harmony” at Brukhental Museum and “Utopia of Exotic” at PAVILION center. Since 2008 he is the coordinator of PAVILION center and since 2010, the executive director of BUCHAREST BIENNALE. Andrei lives and works in Bucharest.
The title of the performance, comes from a well known British football chant, but it functions on two levels, connecting with the collective memory
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Mono Colored Atmosphere Year: 2012 Collective performance
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Mono Colored Atmosphere Year: 2012 Collective performance
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Mono Colored Atmosphere Year: 2012 Collective performance
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Mono Colored Atmosphere Year: 2012 Collective performance
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Stand Year: 2012 Sculpture installation
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The Public Gets What the Public Wants Year: 2011 Performative sculpture Photo: Jean-baptiste Beranger
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Volvo – Döner Kebab (I´m rolling – rotating kebab) Year: 2011 Sculpture Photo: Per Larsson
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Who are ya?! Year: 2011 Collective Performance Photo: Dorota Dolores Marzena Lukianska
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Following Paranoid Year 2012 Video installation Photo credit: John Hellberg
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“His art aggressively intrudes tackling social and political a usually in a comic and entert
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s the viewer’s space, while aspects of one’s daily life, taining matter.”
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Youths Year: 2011 Collective Performance Photo: Denis Romanovski
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The Gallery
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The Gallery Nordin Gallery opened in Stockholm in October 2007 and is set up as a project room for young contemporary artists. We represent Scandinavian artists working with photography and video as well as installation, sculpture and performance art. We also present established international photographers to Scandinavia. Nordin Gallery was founded by Axel Nordin. Most welcome!
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Nordinary Art. Ordinary people buying Nordinary Art is more Nordinary than the ordinary neighbour.
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