Sterling Ruby
Soft Work
December 15, 2012–March 17, 2013
Pilvi Takala
Slight Chance
January 17–March 31, 2013
Opening and artist talk: January 16, 6–8pm
Bonniers Konsthall
Torsgatan 19
SE-113 90 Stockholm
Sweden
Sterling Ruby
Soft Work
December 15, 2012–March 17, 2013
Bonniers Konsthall presents the first major solo exhibition in Scandinavia by American artist Sterling Ruby. Working in a variety of materials and genres, Ruby’s practice encompasses everything from glazed ceramics, spray-painted canvases, bronze casts and collages, inspired by such tangential topics as the American prison system, consumerism and contemporary architecture. The exhibition Soft Work is at first glance playful, soft and humorous, but in time reveals dimensions of danger and terror. Ruby transforms materials such as cushions and blankets into sinister sculptural objects where safety and security prove to be an illusion. Here, for example, gaping vampire mouths are covered in brightly colored textiles or patterned with star-spangled banners, and giant blood and teardrops hang like cadavers from the ceiling.
Soft Work is organized in collaboration with the Centre d’Art Contemporain, Genéva, FRAC Champagne-Ardenne, Reims and MACRO, Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Rome. In every presentation of Soft Work new elements are added. For Bonniers Konsthall, Ruby has created two new sculptural forms: Stockholm Butterfly and Stockholm Wolf.
Program
January 9 at 6pm
Screening of The Cool School by Morgan Neville.
January 23 at 6pm
“Surfer Aesthetics: on LA Trash & Treasure.” Lecture by Liv Stoltz, curator and writer.
February 6 at 6pm
“Graffiti and the art scene.” Discussion with Jacob Kimvall, author and art historian, and Jonas Kleerup, gallerist.
February 20 at 6pm
“Who is Sterling Ruby?” Talk by Jörg Heiser, co-editor Frieze Magazine and co-publisher Frieze Magazine d/e.
February 27 at 6pm
“Does material play a role in artist practices today?” Panel discussion with artists Zandra Ahl and Olav Westphalen.
March 13 at 6pm
Soft Work. Lecture with Florence Derieux, director of the FRAC Champagne-Ardenne, Reims, and curator of Soft Work at FRAC.
Pilvi Takala
Slight Chance
January 17–March 31, 2013
This spring Bonniers Konsthall opens with an exhibition of selected works by Finnish artist Pilvi Takala. Takala works predominantly with video installations, and her work could be described as interventions in everyday life. By knowingly misinterpreting rules and social codes, Takala’s work creates confusion and challenges social conventions that are so easily taken for granted. Slight Chance is an exhibition that looks at Takala’s work surrounding notions of chance. Often returning to the possibilities of winning, losing or losing the chance of winning, the exploration of our perception of chance is part of her artistic practice. The video Players (2010), for instance, shows six financially independent poker players’ everyday lives and how gambling has become a significant part of their newly rich lifestyles, a modality they even use to decide who’s paying for dinner. Takala’s new installation One in a Million in part invites us to follow a woman who finds herself without a postcode and consequently loses the possibility of playing the national Postcode Lottery, which in turn poses the question: Can one be compensated for the loss of the chance to win?
Pilvi Takala, born 1981 in Helsinki, studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki. Her work has been shown widely, including Kunsthalle Basel, Berlin Biennale, Istanbul Biennial as well as New Museum’s 2012 Triennial The Ungovernables in New York. She received the Dutch Prix de Rome in 2011 and has taken part in several residency programs such as the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam and the Swedish IASPIS.
Program
January 16 at 6pm
Opening and Artist Talk – Pilvi Takala.
February 13 at 6pm
“Sites and Situations – Talking and Thinking With the Works of Pilvi Takala” Lecture with Mika Hannula, writer, curator and critic.
March 20 at 6pm
“Who is Pilvi Takala?” Talk by Jennifer Allen, editor Frieze Magazine d/e.
For more information visit www.bonnierskonsthall.se or contact press manager Kajsa Pontén kajsa.ponten [at] bonnierskonsthall.se.
