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22.09.23. SKF/Konstnärshuset – Multiple artists
SKF/Konstnärshuset – Multiple artists – The location of the prices – August 20 to September 24, 2022 – Smålandsgatan 7 – Open Wednesday to Saturday between 12-4pm
ABOUT the artists
Maria Mahfooz (b. 1995, London, UK), is an artist who graduated from the University of the Arts London, Central Saint Martins in 2019. Her practice draws from the autobiographical and themes of representation, constructions of the self and intersectionality. A selection of her recent solo exhibitions include “It’s not easy being green”, Leave of Absence Gallery, London (2020). Group exhibitions include: ‘Offsite project, Google Maps Residency’, with Sara Gulamali (2020); Tate Exchange, Tate Modern, (2017, 2018, 2019), to name a few. Mahfooz was also co-curator and participated in the exhibition ‘BABEL’, Willesden Galley, London (2019). In 2019, she received the Sid Motion Gallery Prize and participated in the Associate Studio Program residency, is a Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2020 artist, and receivedNew Contemporaries Digital Fellowship Award 2022.
https://www.mariamahfooz.com/
Soni Sagan (b. 1990, Sundbyberg) received her bachelor’s degree in Free Arts from the Royal Academy of Art 2021. Sagan’s artistic practice is dedicated to the all-art work “ATAR Walk With Me” (2020-2030); a lived research project that examines overlaps between ideology, aesthetics and metaphysics, framed
as the creation of a fictional religion. The “ATARi religion” (also known as pirated Zoroastrianism, or studies of contemporary fire worship) is a mythological lens, a radical recapture of the imagination, through which a collapsing horizon can reveal itself as an opening.Previous exhibitions include “Liljevalchs Vårsalong 2022”, “Phantoms of The Commons” Tensta Konsthall 2021, “Heat/Energy” Kummelholmen 2021, “MUST REMAIN OPEN AT ALL TIMES” Marabouparken 2021, “MAMI : AMA : MÖDRAR” Botkyrka Konsthall 2020, ” Insulation | Communication” Färgfabriken 2020.
https://www.instagram.com/sixtyten69/?hl=en
Nisrine Boukhari (b. 1980, Damascus, Syria) is active in Vienna, Austria and in Stockholm, and is a conceptual artist who studied sculpture at the Faculty of Arts at Damascus University and completed her MA in Social Design at Angewandte Kunst Wien. In her practice, Boukhari uses conceptual writing, fragmentation and deconstructed narratives. In these art-based research projects, she applies language to evoke new ways for the imagination to involve the body and mind in an immersive poetic and conceptual experience.She conducts her art-based research internationally where she held artist/research residencies at Iaspis/Sweden, Serlachius Museum/Finland, Trapholt Museum/Denmark, MAWA art residency Winnipeg/Canada, NKDALE art center Norway, Art Omi in NYC, and many other residencies.She has exhibited at institutions such as MMSU Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rijeka/Croatia, Bildmuseet Umeå/Sweden, Trapholt Museum Kolding/Denmark, World Culture Museum Gothenburg/Sweden, National Museum of Contemporary Art (Museu do Chiado) Lisbon/Portugal, Museet for Samtidskunst , Roskilde/Denmark, Nederlands Fotomuseum Rotterdam/Netherlands, Casoria International Contemporary Art Museum Casoria/Italy and other places. Boukhari was named “Artist of the Year” by KRO in 2019 and some of her works are purchased by international museums and art institutions.
http://nisrineboukhari.com/
SKF/Konstnärshuset has support from the Culture Council and the City of Stockholm.
ABOUT the exhibition
“Prisernas plats” is an exhibition where three artists; Maria Mahfooz, Nisrine Boukhari and Soni Sagan meet in their depictions of the public space as a meeting place.
The market or bazaar returns as a unifying denominator in the exhibition. The word bazaar originally comes from the Persian word bāzār , whose etymology goes back to the Middle Persian word baha-char ( भाचार ), meaning “place of prices”. The expression contains an ambiguity in Swedish. Partly, thoughts are brought to a consideration for getting something, partly to an ultimate place that carries an affective value and lacks a price. In this context, the location of the awards takes aim at geographical areas that correspond to the artists’ “home”.
In Boukhari’s work “The Day Before”, we take the role of spectators in a tender snapshot and memory of a market in the old part of Damascus before the outbreak of war. The artist describes the work as a visual meditation where one follows the intimacy of people’s movements in the cramped spaces of the market stalls that encompassed Damascus’ colorful urban soul.
In Maria Mahfooz’s video work “30 Questions with Maria Mahfooz” , we initially see the artist in full figure as she speaks on the phone against a green screen background, along with what through the work becomes a continuous rendering of the exterior of the multicultural area of Manor Park in London where Mahfooz with family is resident today. She speaks directly to her own veiled avatar in the foreground, who walks down the street and answers 30 questions in a generated voice. At the same time, the audience can navigate Manor Park past sales stands, bus stations and among people in ongoing everyday life.
The setup is a clear paraphrase of Vogue magazine’s popular web series “73 Questions with..”, where an anonymous interviewer asks seemingly spontaneous questions to a famous person in their actual home environment. Mahfooz correspondingly answers a range of questions that are sometimes as Vogue-trivial and touch on her favorite flower and future dreams. However, the charming self-deprecating humor is also permeated at times by an underlying seriousness in culturally conditioned questions about, for example, the color of her beloved hijab or how she imagines she will one day die (“hate crime”).
The meeting place can also be found in Soni Sagan’s work, which, among other things, takes shape through a giant readymade; a sculpture that consists of a concrete grill and is actually intended for community but has been removed from its physical location in the artist’s Husby and is now instead in the artist’s possession. Why such a grill has had to disappear and at what price and for whom are questions that may be raised.
The exhibition is curated by Alida Ivanov and Ashik Zaman.
ABOUT the gallery
The Swedish Artists’ Association (SKF) was formed in 1890. Already then they began to dream about and plan for a common house for all Swedish artists. In 1899, the dream came true and the Artists’ House was ready.
Konstnärshuset has been a listed building since 1999. Its facade design is one of the few examples of Venetian architecture in Sweden. The building is characterized by great artistry and craftsmanship and several famous artists, craftsmen and architects have worked in and on the building. SKF owns 5/7 of the Artists’ House, while the Artists’ Club has its premises on the 2nd floor and owns 2/7.
SKF/Konstnärshuset’s main activities consist of art exhibitions, seminars, lectures and workshops. In 2020, Alida Ivanov took over as artistic director and Ashik Zaman as curator for the exhibition and program operations. SKF also conducts membership activities, renting out the house’s various premises and is responsible for the management of the Artist’s House through a property management company. Every year, SKF awards scholarships to professional artists. SKF today has approximately 800 members who are professional artists.
At Konstnärshuset, SKF works with the sale of its members’ art in the house’s Showroom.
https://konstnarshuset.org/