28 February 2009

P.R.B, Nationalmuseum

We spent 2h30 enjoying a really good exhitibion.
The works of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood that Mikael Ahlund had chosen to show were inspiring:
_ they have a special atmosphere
_ they are reflexive (dealing with art history, history and modern times)
_ they show the artists' skills.

What excited me most was the "end" of the exhibition, where Arts & Crafts, Sub Rosa and Carl Larsson made a fantastic transition to the rest of the Nationalmuseum.
Mikael Ahlund and his team succeeded in creating a strong event, inscribing it in the institutional frame. What else could a demanding visitor ask for?






(Photo painting woman at the top of the page copied from: http://www.preraphaelitesisterhood.com/cowper.jpg)
(Photo painting Ophelia by John Everett Millais copied from: http://fredfred.net/skriker/images/fred/2005/pre-raphaelites/ophelia-millais.jpg)
(Photo painting woman by a loom copied from: http://questionsconcerningreligion.org/images/113.jpg)

17 February 2009

Tabaimo & Play, Moderna Museet

An interview with the curator Lena Essling (unfortunately in Swedish)

A day with "moving images".
First, the Japanese artist Tabaimo who, for us, displayed surrealistic short stories, sometimes becoming a bit too Freudian for our taste. It was though entertaining, something quite rare for films shown in museums.
Play was a less convincing atempt to show Moderna Museet's collection of moving pieces of art.
The good surprise was that Gunnar and I had seen at least 5 works from past exhibitions (Kentridge, Rist, Eggeling, Just, Calder).
In other words, we were not as illiterate as we at first had thought.
To watch, hear and focus while other people are walking, other films are "making noise", made this enterprise difficult to fully appreciate.
I hope we will be given the opportunity to experience them during different conditions next time...