Robert Lucander

Milliken is pleased to welcome Robert Lucander to his first show in Stockholm in over 5 years. This body of work is the culmination of a yearlong project entitled “I Made Sweden”. In his pure form, Lucander is interested in expressions and gestures that are common between cultures and races. He analyses relationships forcing us to examine our own relationship to his subjects and the works. Body symbols are used by the most adept public figures or in the media to advertise and sell things to mass audiences yet they are generalized and boiled down to a simplified essence. The artist’s attempt to unmask further information, signals and stereotypes that we usually swallow without question because the media barrage is just to great. To do so he collects his imagery from many sources, a mouth might be from one picture, the eyes from another, and “that chin must be Billy Idol.” All of his images have some sort of allusiveness about them that cast a melancholy or, in the least, a thoughtful tone about his work. When he paints a portrait we are forced to realize that we cannot truly conceal ourselves behind even the most carefully orchestrated façade.

Robert Lucander, born in Helsinki, uses many Nordic references in his paintings despite having lived in Berlin for the past 17 years. Sub-cultures surrounding the music industry including jazz, “schlager” and pop also figure heavily in his repertoire, yet interestingly, music itself is not an important influence for the artist.

Exhibitions in the past few years include solo shows at Bergen Kunsthall, (NO), Galerie Krobath Wimmer, Wien, Vitamin Arte Contemporanea, Turin (I). Group shows include Carnegie Art Award 2004, Berlin North Hamburger Bahnhof 2004 Stop for a moment – Painting as narrative, 2002 Istanbul Museum of Contemporary Art, Istanbul Popcornia Ja Politiikkaa 2002 Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art.

Pressetext

Robert Lucander - I Made Sweden