Kjartan Slettemark (1932 – 2008) is the frontrunner of the group and a leading figure when it comes to incorporating toys as ready-mades into art. London-based Hew Locke (b. 1959), who is showing his work in a Nordic country for the first time, is similar to Slettemark in that he applies a carnival-like mode of expression to his large-scale relief portraits, using incisive wit to train the spotlight on certain deep-rooted and oppressive social mechanisms.
Danish-born Maria Rubinke’s (1985) small porcelain figures are reminiscent of the illogical compositions of surrealism, transforming the character of what are traditionally charming and passive objects into expressions of more taboo feelings that oscillate between desire and sadism. Fredrik Raddum (b. 1973) also plays with cartoons and mass media clichés in his composite objects, where the apparent naivety of the design accentuates the existential theme. For this exhibition, he has produced a major new work that has a child’s slide set up amidst the wreckage of a crashed aircraft.
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