PODIUM: Safty Curtain / empty man

September 17, 2024

Podium, husets galleri, avsluttet sommersesongen og gikk inn i høsten med utstillingen Safty Curtain / empty man

Tekst: Eli Tenga & Podium Oslo Foto: Erik Mowinckel

De to kunstnerne Simon Mullan og Lova Hiselius presenterte utstillingen Safty Curtain / empty man. Det følgende, et kort skriv om utstillingen, er et transkript fra løpeseddelen til utstillingen:

Simon Mullan and Lova Hiselius work in a gap between what you see and what you cannot see - transferred to both safety and uncertainty. While Simon Mullan is an established artist, Lova Hiselius is currently entering her second year as a mfa student at Oslo National Academy of Arts. The two artists are in different stages of their career and the idea behind the exhibition originates from their use of textile as medium. Mullan and Hiselius are both identified by working with everyday objects as main characters engaging with cultural symbols delving into the lauders of meaning embedded in common objects and clothing, revealing historical and social connotations.

Let’s say that «Safty Curtain / empty man» is an idiom. Then a «Safty curtain» could be read as «An undefined functioning safety device» and the «Empty man» conveyed to «A man who is feeling blank blankness». Ok, so picture yourself in impenetrable darkness. In a sudden flash an outline of a figure appears, then poof!- gone in a blink of an eye. Still the imprint on your retina outline the shape. This imprint lies in Mullan and Hiselius’ works; illuminated by a curiosity in the interfaces between canvas and textile, materiality and its cultural symbolism. Mullans «Safety Curtain» explores interplay between visibility and anonymity in contemporary society, while Love Hiselius is exhibiting a series of paintings yet to be stretched, where salty tears, shadows, imprints and reflections act as a signifier for ghosts.

Under følger et utvalg av bilder tatt på utstillingen.