DALAKONST 09, images & (post)press

The juror Peter Johansson's opening speech



















The Salon-styled hall









The "controversial" decision of this year's juror to hang artworks in one of the halls Salon-style has caused a fuss. Two middle-aged male artists have removed their works from this wall - one even leaving a (silly) explanatory note behind which has been accepted as replacement for the removed artworks. Meanwhile, another middle-aged male artist has gone back to the museum to add a moustache and beard to his painted lady, one of the works placed in the juror's hall of "favourites", in the hopes of having the piece reassessed.

Overall, it's been interesting to follow the steady lowering of the watermark through all this, and watch certain artists do things they probably normally wouldn't (in attempts to turn the imagined spotlight back on themselves?). It's also worth noting the corresponding characteristics of these three "deserters" when one of the juror's main comments to this year's exhibition was, as he put it, the regrettably low number of participating male artists.

Personally, though, I don't share the indignation of these three, and find their acts somewhat humorous but mostly counter-productive. I have never quite understood why Peter Johansson is regarded as provocative, but given the disproportionate amount of attention generated here (and how easy it seems to provoke the local middle-aged male artists) maybe it's no longer that big of a mystery...

I can't help but feel a bit discouraged - is this as good as it gets?


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More post-press (in Swedish):


"Bra konst tål att ha grannar
Hittills har två konstnärer valt att i protest lyfta bort sina bidrag från utställningen Dalakonst 09 på Dalarnas Museum. Kommissarie Peter Johanssons grepp att fylla en vägg med konst från golv till tak har väckt sårade känslor. 'Johansson visar en tydlig respektlöshet mot mig som konstnär'..."
Read the article (one of the articles in the debate)

"Holst vill ha ny bedömning
Årets höstsalong på Dalarnas Museum ger inte vissa konstnärer någon ro. Nu vill Tomas Holst från Dala-Järna ha en ny bedömning av sin målning 'Hur gammal tror du att jag är'. I går gick Holst till museet med svart färg och två penslar för att måla dit mustasch och pipskägg på sin gamla gumma som står i ett skogslandskap i orange klänning..."
Read the article

DALAKONST 09 - opening 21 November 2009

View of Dalarnas Museum
(image from the museum website)










Our recent Guerrilla Gardening has been selected as part of the annual jury-based group show DALAKONST at Dalarnas Museum in Falun. This year's superintendent is artist Peter Johansson.

The opening event is this Saturday, November 21, from 13h00.
There'll be a guided walkabout on Wednesday 25 November at 19h00.

The exhibition stays on until 16 January 2010.

Dalarnas Museum (Konsthallen)
Stigaregatan 2-4
Falun, Sweden
Tel: +46 (0)23 765500


Opening hours:
Mondays 12-17
Tue - Fri 10-17 (Wed open until 21)
Sat - Sun 12-17

Closed 18/12, 24-25/12, 31/12-1/1

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Media coverage / reviews (in Swedish):

"Salong signerad Johansson
Visst anade man att det skulle bli något extra av höstsalongen med provokatören och konstnären Peter Johansson som kommissarie. Och det blev det. På en stor vägg har Johansson samlat 109 av de 140 utvalda verken i vad han kallar en myllrande 'rysk hängning'..."
Read the article

"Årets Dalakonst har både fin- och fulrum
Dalakonst 09. Utställningskommissarie och enväldig jury är Peter Johansson. Han har kunnat välja och vraka. Det är nämligen länge sedan som intresset för höstsalongen var så här stort. Över 150 konstnärer lämnade in över 560 verk (45 män och 107 kvinnor). Efter utgallringen återstod 70 konstnärer och 141 verk..."
Read the article

"Många ville delta vid Dalakonst 2009
Trångt på Dalarnas museum. På lördag öppnar den årliga konstutställningen "Dalakonst 2009", på Dalarnas Museum i Falun, där yrkesverksamma konstnärer och amatörer samsas om utrymmet. 150 konstnärer ville vara med, men bara 70 av dem fick plats när årets juryordförande, den internationellt kände konstnären Peter Johansson skulle välja..."
View video clip (interview)
View images (general)

"Dags för 'Dalakonst 09'
141 bilder kommer att visas upp på lördag när årets upplaga av Dalakonst 09 öppnar på Dalarnas museum. Det är en utställning med verk av både proffs som amatörer..."
Read the article / Hear radio clip

Guerrilla Gardening: Vasaparken, Falun 2009-2010

Two weekends ago, garden designer Karin Nordmark and I headed out into Falun to launch a Guerrilla Gardening venture that stretches into next year - and beyond. It is sprung from one of Karin's earlier projects involving the Guerilla Gardening concept but has surely also benefited from our last colloboration (namely the previously mentioned correspondence project that we have been running throughout this year and which recently ended).

During our 5 hours of work on this rather chilly Saturday night we encountered three initially suspicous but later friendly police officers and an assortion of talkative passers-by in various stages of alcohol intoxication, among others.

The chosen site consists of a centrally located grass slope stretching from Vasaparken over to a spacious road island that used to harbour a flower bed spelling "welcome", which has apparently been discontinued.

We now await spring.

Guerrilla Gardening: Vasaparken, Falun 2009-2010
Photo-documentation of phase 1
10,2 x 18cm each














































Overview of phase 2
10,2 x 18cm

Glimpses of my last few months

(Seasonal job as a school photographer in - mostly - narrow spaces)

Mannheim after dark

Mannheim after dark, 2009
Digital photographs
Dimensions variable

Themed selection of images from a one-day visit to Mannheim, Germany, in June 2009.

Fast-forward & rewind triptych

Fast-forward & rewind triptych, 2009
Oak wood, bolts, nuts, washing line
20 x 80 x 6cm each

Installation view & detail

Commission for upper secondary school graduate.

2D variation

I've had the opportunity to get some fun variation lately, both with the correspondence project (see below) and 2D work. Last month I made a cd-cover for the Gothenburg-based musician Euphoria and the lazy boy, just in time for his European tour together with Winter Took His Life, Hajen and Tvärvägen.
To listen visit his website http://www.myspace.com/eatlb

Euphoria and the lazy boy (cd-cover: front), 2009
Digital image
Dimensions variable