[Title] Memories of a Colour
[Artist] Michael Johansson
[Date] May 17 – July 31, 2012
Michael Johansson deals with ordinary objects we all recognize, but in a way far from the ordinary. Driven by the agenda to densify the world, objects are morphed into precisely stacked rectangular shapes, connected to a certain place, where their original purpose are transformed into catalysts of new meanings. Outdated items within the same colour range are reconstructed into a homogeneous image of a fictional life reinforced by our collective imaginary: the compressed scenery from a time which passed by.
The change of time becomes visible through the objects that surround us. They become worn and their design outdated. The shade of white turns yellow over time.
For the Window Display at Maison Hermès everyday objects from a time passed by, collected from various flea markets originated from hundreds of different homes, are morphed into a homogenous image together with more recent objects gathered from 100-yen stores. The monochromatic items are precisely stacked into the empty space of larger items, a process that repeats itself until all the objects are carefully packed into one single tight sculptural form where the function has been forced into submission by notions of colour and shape. Everything is highlighted with products from the Hermès. The past is mixed with the present, the everyday with the exclusive.
Artist Profile ~ Michael Johansson
Born in Sweden in 1975. After studying at the Art Academy in Trondheim, Norway, and Kunsthochschule Berlin Weissensee, Germany, Johansson took his masters degree at Malmö Art Academy, Sweden, 2005. After that, he has taken part of several residencies and held exhibitions frequently both within and outside of Sweden. Some of his most important exhibitions include: Malmö Konstmuseum (SE), Galerie Filomena Soares (PT), Moscow Museum of Modern Art (RU), Meessen de Clercq (BE), Ystads konstmuseum (SE) and Nikolaj Kunsthal (DK). He currently lives and works in Malmö, Sweden.