After a short shopping 'interlude', Gunnar and I go to our two regular vernissages near Södermalmstorg at Galleri Helle and Galleri Kontrast.
At Galleri Helle, some of the students of the Graphic School are exhibiting some works.
We recognize Hanna Gustavsson (21 y.o) immediately. We saw her work somewhere else before - SAK, Millesgården?
In black and white, she draws surrealistic portraits of everyday people.
They live in the suburb, buy alcohol on Fridays, watch Rickie Lake's TV program, use internet to underleaf their libido.
One of them is an angry young man sitting in a coach with a black metal t-shirt.
He looks mad, staring in front of him towards what we guees is the TV (is that Lake's fault? or Beavis and Butthead?).
He will be the key character of this day.
It might have been a tribute to Ragnar Persson, the artist who depicts with the same kind of technique the surrealistic darkness of Scandinavia and who presently has a small exhibition at Hedengrens. Who knows...
I (Gunnar) would like to add Anna Johansson Stenberg and her art, a combination between photos, drawings - some kind of collage.
I liked it very much and it reminded me to some extent of family photos on the wall in a old home in Sweden or any other country.
The photos function there as historical documents not only of the persons we know but also of old milieus, living conditions and maybe earlier unspoiled nature.
Then, Galleri Kontrast with some pictures from Northern Norway, where Russian and Ukrainian immigrants work in the mine. They live in kitsch interiors and as in Gustavsson's drawings, we experience this as a kind of surrealistic portraits.
I (Gunnar) felt very much as if these immigrants had to put up with interiors that we in the West had left behind us as being ugly or out of fashion.
This strengthens the feeling that these people are going throw the development we went through in society thirty years ago.
But let's go back to headbanging.
Direction: Opera!
The photos function there as historical documents not only of the persons we know but also of old milieus, living conditions and maybe earlier unspoiled nature.
Then, Galleri Kontrast with some pictures from Northern Norway, where Russian and Ukrainian immigrants work in the mine. They live in kitsch interiors and as in Gustavsson's drawings, we experience this as a kind of surrealistic portraits.
I (Gunnar) felt very much as if these immigrants had to put up with interiors that we in the West had left behind us as being ugly or out of fashion.
This strengthens the feeling that these people are going throw the development we went through in society thirty years ago.
But let's go back to headbanging.
Direction: Opera!
The mise en scène is made by a Norwegian citizen - Olle Anders Tandberg.
As Norway is the country for Mayhem, Nattefrost or Immortal (resurrected), when the two lead characters exchange identities and use long hair postiches to embody new roles, Peter Mattei starts headbanging during some seconds.
Headbanging at the Opera! On Mozart's music! I was delighted!I (Gunnar) think that when it comes to the performance by the singers in this production, Peter Mattei (Guglielmo, see link by his name above) was fantastic vocally and comically.
He is one of our foremost singers all categories and his baritone both has a deep and soft timbre combined with vocal strenght when needed.
Maria Fontosh (Fiordiligi) is one of my favourites among the sopranos but in this performance I where not as impressed as I have been before when hearing her sing.
I saw her in 'Eugen Onegin' and there she was tremendous sometimes reminding me of the greatest singers ever. In this performance she was very good but maybe I have to high demands on her as I fell in love with her voice immediately the first time I heard her.
Susanna Végh is also one of my favourites among singers and she sang very well though I found her performance in the last act being better than in the first.
The least interesting singers vocally where Hilde Leiland (Despina), Jonas Degerfeldt (Ferrando) and Gunnar Lundberg (Don Alfonso).
On a whole this production held high standards and I liked the mis en scène very much. The choir where excellent and also the orchestra conducted by the excellent Finnish conductor Okko Kamu.
I recommend this production to all of you.
We achieved the day with some other headbangers from Northern Europe.
Au pays de Lordi, comme dans tous les pays,
On s'amuse, on pleure, on rit,
Il y a des méchants et des gentils...
Eurovision Song Contest from Helsinki. We hear the 24 participants.
But I am waiting for something: Apocalyptica is playing during the break.
Gunnar has never heard of them, never seen them. I will have to make him listen to their tributes I keep in La Châtre.
Au pays de Lordi, comme dans tous les pays,
On s'amuse, on pleure, on rit,
Il y a des méchants et des gentils...
Eurovision Song Contest from Helsinki. We hear the 24 participants.
But I am waiting for something: Apocalyptica is playing during the break.
Gunnar has never heard of them, never seen them. I will have to make him listen to their tributes I keep in La Châtre.
Exhibitions, Opera, TV. Everything was under the sign of headbanging in a kitsch, surreal world.
Could it have been better? Hardly.
Could it have been better? Hardly.
(Poster Così fan tutte copied from: : http://slturner6.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/cosi_fan_tutte_-_first_performance.jpg)
(Foto ensam kvinna bland svampar ur Così fan tutte kopierat från: http://gfx.svd-cdn.se/multimedia/dynamic/00009/15375101_9011c.jpg)
(Foto Peter Mattei ur Cosí fan tutte kopierat från: http://gfx.aftonbladet-cdn.se/image/10703638/210/normal/d03c48cb8d1cb/KULTUR-06s05-cosi-385_438)
(Photo Così fan tutte copied from: Mats Bäcker)
1 comment:
Hi,
it's nice you enjoyed my drawings at Helle Knudsen!
I have only had one exhibition before and it was at Kafé 44, not at Millesgården. maybe my style is similar to someone elses?
I'm glad you liked the angry black metal-drawing. but it's not a tribute to Ragnar persson. I recognize his name but I have barely seen anything of his work. and the person on the picture is an angry teenage girl, not a boy... my only thought with it was that it is a 14yr old subculture girl that hates being photographed. But it was fun anyway to read your thoughts about it!
/Hanna Gustavsson
Post a Comment