Peter Johansson’s media drew the attention of the exhibition ”childhood faith” in Malmö, has now in the few weeks been shown in Stockholm. Hurry, hurry to the Wetterling gallery, I say (in progress t o m Saturday 27/4). This is where the artist and out on his childhood in a nationalist Valleys, and takes the difficult subjects such as mental and physical abuse. School bullying, mental harassment at home, and sexual abuse.
In the exhibition depicts this symbolically. But the personal hell has Peter Johansson testified in clear text in the interviews and the richly illustrated catalog that Wetterling added to the project. Which also contributes kulturskribenten Ulrika Knutson with a personal text about Johansson’s artistry and his decades-long deals with growing up in a stockkonservativ, hypernationalistisk environment.
and now has one of his ”bombs briserat, in the exhibition ‘childhood faith’. The effect is bloody and on its way liberating,” writes Knutson.
Indeed. I agree with all the positive reviews on the strength of Peter Johansson’s well-executed staging, in particular, ”Home”, the five rumsinstallationerna in painted red boxes that pile up directly at the gallery’s entrance.
It is difficult to resist, finds many with me, against this metaphorical carnage. At the exhibition returns symbols for the Swedish character that Johansson has gone on before; the maypole, kurbits, Falu rödfärg, falukorven; it also served with the hair on. Fallosformen repeated in the cacti and in the mechanical ”korvknullaren” – which I near enough knockas in a narrow passage.
The moves in and out at head height, while most of the titthålen sitting in barnhöjd, so that the adult viewer must bend in the back. The only figure that we encounter in these interiors are modern, in short video clips portrayed by the son, dressed as a woman. Hen fry frantically sausage, kedjeröker and the rest of the time kicking, hissing, ”now, is it seriously” as a genre. ”It is a heartbreaking performance. Fragile and brutal at the same time”, noted dagens nyheter’s critic Dan Jönsson.
really is the artist who appears in all the clips, because his maskeradnummer is so laughable skillfully. At the opening of the exhibition was the spiritual song ”childhood faith” and ‘allsången’ aroused even the giggles and laughter.
There is something in this that bothers me. Peter Johansson has in an interview stated that he is trying to deal with the heavy topics in an uplifting way, that there must be humor in the darkness. Sure, it’s his childhood and he has his artistic freedom.
However, I think that even in the art world needed a debate on this right to subjectively truth-telling; discussion Linda Fagerström began his review of the ”child-like faith” (AB 27/1) and as long as the hot ventilerats in film and literature.
”verklighetslitteratur”, autofiktion and novels about the childhood has related often protested against the author’s perception of reality, now by the existing Vigdis Hjorths brilliant ”heredity and environment”. And as late as in yesterday’s DN on Jan Myrdal’s new autobiographical book, ”A second grace”, where, according to Bosse Lindquist ”trying to solka down the memory of two individuals”.
What seriously bothers me in the ”child-like faith” is the grip ”blame the mother” – as a feminist and the author of a non-fiction book about autism I am allergic to psykoanalysens historic and completely wrong trying to lay blame of mothers. To modersfiguren has the most prominent role in Peter Johansson mardrömsgestaltning is, moreover, psychologically, a little bit strange, when there is a man that is singled out as the worst offender.
But perhaps it is I who lacks the sense of humor. Describes it anyway.
