Immaculate Collection
24. feb. – 12. mars
Velkommen til denne utstillingen som åpner fredag 24. februar kl. 18:00 – 21:00.
Åpningstider forøvrig er alle dager kl. 12.00 – 16:00
unntatt torsdag som er kl. 14.00 – 20:00.
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Theis (US) var først gjestekunstner på USF Verftet i Bergen og har vendt tilbake for å presentere noe av arbeidet han gjorde her. Arbeidet kretser rundt en slags personlig mytologi, et system der han følger et utvalg skapninger gjennom tid og faser av utvikling. Dette kommer til uttrykk gjennom skulptur, installasjoner, performance og video. Les mer i hans egne ord:
The past nine years I have been building a type of personal mythology or system that follows a group of fantastical creatures through time and stages of evolution. These investigations are realized through sculpture, installation, performance and video. I use the system as a lens to look back at life on earth, human societies and our own evolutionary path. The narratives in my work are reinterpretations of mythological themes I learned from childhood. I explore the origins of these characters, their relationship to their environment and spiritual growth.
I play the role of the characters, utilizing sculptural suits. The suit becomes a means of entering this world and exploring different states of being. During the performances I imagine myself as a survivalist creature, enacting a series of rituals that have deep roots in my own experiences. I see these rituals as a means of reconnecting with a very distant, deeply embedded part of myself. I document the performances through video and use the documentation as a foundation for building the mythology.
The work speaks to a kind of nostalgia or sentimentality from another time. This human longing of a utopian world where “everything’s going to be alright”. Music videos and children’s television programming of the 1970s and 80s are important references in building the mythology as well as shape-shifting performers like David Bowie and Prince.
As the characters evolve, many elements from our cyber-obsessed culture have entered the work such as video gaming, fashion and social media. In this exhibition I explore the influence of a pop cultural icon in the mythology; much akin to Billie Eilish. She hasn’t revealed herself but strange handbags, jewelry, androgynous garments, quilts and other accessories have begun to appear in this world. I see the emergence of this fashionista as representing a distinct new evolutionary step in the mythology.
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Se Jared Theis’ nettside
https://www.jaredtheis.com/
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Jared Theis was born in 1977. He earned an MFA from the University of California, Davis in 2012. While in California he received a Joan Mitchell MFA grant and the Robert Arneson Award. In 2014 he was awarded a Statens Kunstnerstipend from Kulturrådet, Norway Arts Council, Oslo. He has done residencies at Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin, Germany; KHIO, National Academy of the Arts in Oslo Norway; the Joan Mitchell Foundation in New Orleans; the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft in Houston; USF Verftet Bergen and will be an Artist in Residence at the University of the Arts, Philadelphia this year. He has exhibited his work at Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin; Kunsthall Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway; Mass Gallery, Austin, Texas and the Oslo Prosjektrom, Norway.