Showtime

SHOWTIME

Simon Grimm, Jørgen Carlo Larsen, Torben Ribe

Stalke Galleri was pleased to announce the opening of the exhibition SHOWTIME, featuring Simon Grimm, Jørgen Carlo Larsen, and Torben Ribe. SHOWTIME was the result of an extraordinary collaborative effort between the three artists, transforming the gallery space with references to both theatrical and artistic staging.

In the exhibition SHOWTIME, the gallery’s ability to stage objects and the individual works’ ability to become staged settings served as a shared frame of reference for the artists and determined the final exhibition. The gallery was the stage on which artworks performed. The artists allowed the gallery space—perhaps not the neutral white cube after all—to become part of the artwork, playing the role of a set piece that brought another level of ambiguity to the room. The space oscillated between stage and backstage, between public and private. Individual works were hung and arranged according to different systems within the gallery, thus staging the space on the terms of public presentation. Simultaneously, discreet spatial elements hinted at backstage life, something private.

These elements had both the character of scenography, theatrically pointing to a specific type of space, and that of autonomous sculptural elements. One of the objects lay materially and aesthetically between an overused wardrobe, referencing the private sphere, and a “trashy” plinth, a classic way of staging three-dimensional objects. This duality was significant throughout the exhibition, where the works appeared as upcoming idols with star quality while simultaneously embodying the character of fading prima donnas, marked by running makeup and a scent of past successes, glamour, and melancholy.

The exhibition was an exploration of the gallery space’s role as well as a manipulation of that space. The artists played with the theme of staging in relation to how art performed in a room, how art operated in society, and how people performed on life’s stage. This staging was immediately entertaining and amusing, but beneath the surface lay reflections on illusion and integrity—where was the boundary between role and reality? What were we seeing when we were watching SHOWTIME?

Installation views from the exhibition SHOWTIME by Simon Grimm, Jørgen Carlo Larsen, and Torben Ribe at Stalke Galleri, 2004.

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