picture postcards: I heart art

Goteborg Konstmuseum (The Gothenburg Museum of Art)

Being a previous art student I have never lost my love of galleries.

This Art Museum is situated right at the top of the Avenyn, the most prominent road in Gothenburg. You are greeted by the famous Poseidon statue (from Greek Mythology Poseidon was the God of the Sea - in mythology he calmed the seas which may be the reason why he is situated looking out towards the sea), he towers above you with the museum behind. The museum houses collections from the 15th Century all the way up to modern photography and sculptures.

Taken from the roof of the Museum, with Poseidon in front of the Avenyn

The Hasselblad Center is the first exhibit full of contemporary photographs.

An example of the Cooper and Gorfer work. This work is entitled 'Child Line'

I was fascinated by the photographic collection by Cooper & Gorfer My Quiet of Gold.

These photographs capture staged people representing fables and myths as well as real events in Kyrgyzstan (an independent Turkish state). Kyrgyzstan was ceded to Russia in a treaty with China and was therefore apart of the Soviet Union in 1919. This might get to sound quite boring... bare with me... I was a history student and find this sort of stuff interesting!! One of the pieces, Child Line, (see above) depicts the rebellion in 1916 Kyrgyzstan were thousands of the population perished. The Russian Empire had called for all non-Russian colonies to help the war effort by providing more food through a ruthless process of taking any excess grain causing vast starvation. Unlike conscription, the decree implied that the inhabitants of the colonies were like objects to the Soviet Union. A vicious rebellion was initiated whereby the brave rebels armed with only pitchforks and stolen weapons fought against the powerful Russia Militia. They were crushed and their villages were destroyed and burnt to the ground. The photographic series has a very simple composition and the subjects are dressed in bleak black and white outfits making the whole peice quite striking.

The collection is created in a really unique way of layering photos and therefore has been described as "Blurring the line between painting and photography" because some of the photographs appear almost mystical.

Some to the stories captured are quite disturbing like the Kyrgyzstan tradition of 'abduction' where the women are practically kidnapped and forced to bear children against their will. There was even a story featured about twin boys who were cursed by their entire neighbourhood so they never grew up.Within all the photographs the way in which the people are depicted never gives away any of the tale until you understand their expressions and backgrounds, like the layering of the photos, unravelling the story piece by piece.

Richard Avedon The Family

Richard Avedon The Family was another featured photographer who displayed many black and white portraits of what looked like (on first glance) a normal series of family members. On closer inspection it turns out the portraits are of prominent politicians, including President Bush. However Richard Avedon never wanted to show his personal opinion of the politicians by presenting all the subjects in the same style and their own preference of pose. Instead of the photographs using the people's occupation as the main focus, instead they actualy show the person in a really basic and unihibited way.