c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Tobias Bernstrup c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Obras selección /Worksselection Biografía /Biography Publicac iones /Publications Textos selección /Texts selection Prensa selección /Press selection c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Obras/ Works
Performances c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Friktioner Performance at Uppsala Konsert Kongress, June 2. 2012 Organized by SU‐EN Butoh Company & Uppsala konstmuseum c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Performance at Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, Salt Lake City, 2012 c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Body 5 Arrives Performance at Galería Roca, Barcelona, 2010 Organized by ADN Galería c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
No Soul For Sale Performance at Tate Modern, London May 15th 2010 Curated by Maurizio Cattelan c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Midnight Blue Performance at Wierd New York Dec 2008 c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Pop! Goes The Weasel Perform Badischer Kunstverein,Karlsruhe Feb. 2008 Curated by Anja Casser c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
A Night With K48 Performance at The Kitchen, New York May 24. 2007 Organized by Scott Hug/K48 c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Shanghai Cosplay Performance at Shanghai Duolun MoMA, Nov 27. 2006 During Tobias Bernstrup's Solo Exhibition Mantis City, Curated by Biljana Ciric c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Killing Spree Performance at Debaser Stockholm,January 24th 2006 Organized by Andréhn‐Schiptjenko c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Performance at Rothko, New York April 20. 2005 c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Performance at Erlkönig , Art Basel 2003 Organized by Museum Für Gegenwartskunst & Andréhn‐Schiptjenko c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
On Top Of The World Performance at Gio Marconi, Milan, March 15. 2002 curated by Caroline Corbetta c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Performance during Sets ‐ Performative Surfaces, Venice Biennale 2001 organized by IASPIS c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Obras/ Works
Videos c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Walking Ego (Body 5) 2010
In 'Walking Ego (Body 5)', we see Bernstrup's digital alter ego, dressed in a robotic costume, with exposed breasts, walking endlessly towards the viewer. The animation is made by modifying the famous video game Half‐Life2 and using its tools for character animation in order to create an avatar textured with the artist's face and performance outfit. Bernstrup's musical performances and animations have since many years addressed issues on gender, sexuality, reality, fiction, the production of desire and the sexual fetishisation of dreams through drag and melancholic synth‐disco. 'Walking Ego (Body 5)' extends the artist's previous work as the body that appears has further transformed away from clear gender categories and become more queer. Bernstrup's art/drag performances have also reached a more abstracted, symbolic stage, and drifted away from addressing trans‐gender and 'real' life to more fictive, hybrid references.
CtlCatalogue tttext by Jesper NdhlNordahl from the exhibition New GGitravity at NCCA, Moscow
Walking Ego (Body 5), 2010 Format: DVD 16:9 or 4:3, Endless loop. Ed. 5+1AP c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
A.S.F.R 2009
Filmed during Tobias Bernstrup's performance at Madre Museum, Naples June 26th 2009. In the performance Bernstrup is dressed in a shiny robotic costume and high heels while posing against a crashed BMW and singing his romantic pop songs about cars, neon and robots. The initials AASFR.S.F.R. means 'Alt Sex Fetish Robot' and derives from the now defunct Newsgroup on the web dedicated to Robot Fetishism. The performance was produced in collaboration with MADRE and Scabec as part of the program 'Corpus. Art in Action' curated by Adriana Rispoli & Eugenio Viola.
A.S.F.R. 2009 Format: DV‐Cam/DVD 16:9, Dur. 6:18 min. Music by T. Bernstrup Ed. 5+1AP c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Performance at Badischer Kunstverein 2007‐2008
Filmed during Tobias Bernstrup's performance at Badischer Kunstverein, Karlsruhe February 15th 2008. In the video Bernstrup is performing his song 'Enemies Of The Earth' dressed shiny latex and makeup accompagnied by theatrical smoke and animated stage visuals inspired by early computer animation effects as seen in the classical sci‐fi movie TRON. The video was produced in collaboration with Badischer Kunstverein. The performance took place during the opening night of the exhibition 'Pop! Goes The Weasel' curated by Anja Casser.
Performance at Badischer Kunstverein, 2007‐2008 Format: DV‐Cam/DVD 16:9, Dur. 4:35 min. Music by T. Bernstrup Ed. 5+1AP c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Neon Love 2007‐2008
Neon Love was filmed during Tobias Bernstrup's performance at The Hall in Istanbul November 16th 2007. The Hall is a former Armenian church that has been transformed into a night club. In the video Bernstrup is performing his song 'Neon Love' dressed shiny latex and makeup accompagnied by theatrical smoke and animated stage visuals inspired by Kraftwerks classical video 'Neon Lights'. Bernstrups video projections shows old neon signs filmed in Berlin. Neon Love is also the title of the 12" vinyl singel that was released on the artists own label Tonight Records 2007. The performance and exhibition at The Hall was part of 'Art on Stage' curated by Derya Demir at Platform Garanti Contemporary Art Center. The project was made with generous support from The Consulate General of Sweden.
Neon Love 2007‐2008 Format: DV‐Cam/DVD 16:9, Dur. 6:18 min. Music by T. Bernstrup Edition. 5 +1AP c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Shanghai Cosplay 2006‐2007
Filmed during Tobias Bernstrup's performance at Shanghai Duolun MoMA, October 27th 2006. In the video Bernstrup is performing his song 'The Sniper' dressed as a praying mantis and flanked by the local Cosplay group SkyWaterTown. The performance took place during the opening night of Bernstrup' s solo exhibition 'Mantis City' at the museum curated by Biljana Ciric. CosPlay (from Costume Play) started as a Japanese subculture where participants dressed up as manga, anime or video game characters. It is nowadays a world wide spread cultural phenonema.
Shanghai Cosplay 2006‐2007 Format: DV‐Cam/DVD 4:3, Dur. 6:15 min. Music by T. Bernstrup Ed. 5+1AP c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Mantis City 2006
In the new work 'Mantis City',Tobias Bernstrup adopts the language and low‐tech special FX techniques of early science fiction movies such as; Godzilla, Mothra and King Kong. Set in a 1:1000 scale model over Shanghai's futuristic skyline we see two giant praying mantids fighting each other and climbing the Oriental Pearl and Jin Mao towers. The dramatic lighting of the video recalls an atmosphere from Fritz Lang's Metropolis (1927) and Carol Reed's 'The Third Man' (1949). Like in several of Bernstrup's earlier works, he raises questions about physical representation, how reality mimics fiction and vice versa in a world where the border between fiction and reality is getting more and more blurred.
Mantis City 2006 Format: HDV/DVD 16:9, Dur. 12:58 min. Music by T. Bernstrup Ed. 5+1AP c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Killing Spree 2006
Killing Spree 2006 Format: DVD 16:9, Dur. 14:36 min. Music by T. Bernstrup Ed. 5+1AP c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
La Paloma (1903) 2006
La Paloma (1903) 2006 Format: DVD 4:3, Dur. 4:44 min. Music by T. Bernstrup Ed. 5+1AP c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Walking Ego 2003
Walking Ego 2003 Format: DVD Vertical Screen 9:16, Endless loop. Ed. 5+1AP c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Penthouse Idle 2000
Penthouse Idle 2000 Format: DVD 4:3, Dur. 10:30 min. Music by T. Bernstrup Ed. 5+1AP c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Friedrich Passage 2001
Friedrich Passage 2001 Format: DVD 4:3, Dur. 6:30 min. Music by T. Bernstrup Ed. 5+1AP c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Penthouse Idle 2000
Penthouse Idle 2000 Format: DVD 4:3, Dur. 10:30 min. Music by T. Bernstrup Ed. 5+1AP c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Polygon Lover 2000
Polygon Lover 2000 Format: DVD 4:3, Endless loop. Ed. 5+1AP c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Tonight Live 2000
Tonight Live 2000 Format: DVD 4:3, Dur. 4:30 min. Music by Tobias Bernstrup Edition. 5 +1AP c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Obras/ Works
Sculptures c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Oxygen 2012 Cardboard, wood, paint, motor, colored light, 200 x 200 x 80 cm c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
HOPE 2012 Cardboard, wood, acrylic paint, 500 x 250 x 50 cm c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Body 5 Arrives 2010 Fiber glass, mixed media 180 x 90 x 35 cm c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Heels 2011 Plaster, natural size, Ed. of 5+1A c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Discography 1997‐2010, 2010 Jukebox, 50 Audio CD's of music by T. Bernstrup c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
A.S.F.R. 2010 Jesmonite, mixed media 180 x 90 x 35 cm c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Flesh & Black PVC Monochromes 2010 PVC stretched on frames 49 x 49 x 4 cm c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Obras/ Works
Paintings c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Sing My Body Electric 2011 Gouache on paper 198 x 130 cm c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Life Size Costume Painting (Riche) 2011 Gouache on paper 198 x 130 cm c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
White on Black (3) 2011 Gouache on paper 51 x 38 cm c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Venice Costume Sketch Gouache on paper 23 x 31 cm Collection of Malmö Art Museum c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Re‐Animate Me Costume Sketch Gouache on paper 23 x 31 cm Collection of Malmö Art Museum c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Super Mantis Costume Sketch Gouache on paper 23 x 31 cm Collection of Malmö Art Museum c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Kiling Spree Costume Sketch Gouache on paper 23 x 31 cm c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
1984 Sleeve Front Acrylic on paper 68 x 68 cm c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Tobias With Hood Acrylic on paper 68 x 68 cm c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Cajsa With Hood Acrylic on paper 68 x 68 cm c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Obras/ Works
Prints c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Killing Spree 2005 C‐Print 150 x 120 cm Ed. 3+1AP c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Re‐Animate Me 2002‐2005 C‐Print 150 x 120 cm Ed. 3+1AP c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Mantis City (Production stills) 2006 C‐Print mounted on plexi glass 100 x 75 cm Ed. 4+1AP c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
XSEED‐4000 (Stills) 2004 C‐Print mounted on aluminium 100 x 75 cm Ed. 4+1AP c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
XSEED‐4000 (Stills) 2004 C‐Print mounted on aluminium 100 x 75 cm Ed. 4+1AP c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Potsdamer Platz (Still) 2001‐2005 C‐Print mounted on plexi glass 100 x 75 cm Ed. 3+1AP c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
In The Dead Of Night (Still) 2002 C‐Print mounted on plexi glass 100 x 75 cm Ed. 3+1AP c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Obras/ Works
Interactive c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Tobias Bernstrup | XSEED 4000 Modification of computer game, 2004 Installation with PC computer, projector, speakers and mouse. Soundtrack by Tobias Bernstrup
Tobias Bernstrup | Nekropolis Modification of computer game, 2002 Installation with PC computer, projector, speakers and mouse. Soundtrack by Tobias Bernstrup
Tobias Bernstrup | Potsdamer Platz (Unreal Edit) Modification of computer game, 2001 Installation with PC computer, projector, speakers and mouse. Soundtrack by Tobias Bernstrup
Tobias Bernstrup + Palle Torsson | Museum Meltdown Moderna Museet Modification of computer game Half‐Life, 1999 Installation with PC computer, projector, speakers and mouse.
Tobias Bernstrup + Palle Torsson | Museum Meltdown Vilnius Vengeance Modification of computer game Duke Nukem 3D, 1997 Installation with PC computer, projector, speakers and mouse.
Tobias Bernstrup + Palle Torsson | Museum Meltdown Arken Apocalypse Modification of computer game Duke Nukem 3D, 1996 Installation with PC computer, projector, speakers and mouse. c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Obras/ Works
Audio c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Tobias Bernstrup | Sing My Body Electric CD Album 2012 Other Voices Records, VOXCD11 also available on LP at Other Voices Records
Tobias Bernstrup | 1984 12" Vinyl EP 2009 Enfant Terrible, ET002
Tobias Bernstrup | Midnight Blue 12" EP, Clear blue vinyl, 2008 Falco Invernale Records, FIR‐001
Tobias Bernstrup | Enemies Of The Earth CD single 2007 Produced by North Drive Press#4
Tobias Bernstrup | Neon Love 12" Vinyl EP 2007 TR‐005, Produced by White Project Arte Contemporanea c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Tobias Bernstrup | Killing Spree CD Album 2005 Tonight Records TR‐004 Produced by Kunsthalle Nürnberg
Tobias Bernstrup | Re‐Animate Me CD Album 2002 FF‐001 Produced by Färgfabriken
Tobias Bernstrup | Ventisette 12" vinyl maxi 2003 TR‐002 Produced by Galeria Sogospatty
Tobias Bernstrup | 27 12" Vinyl maxi 2002 TR‐001 Produced by Tonight Records c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Biografía / Biography c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Tobias Bernstrup (1970, Sweden)
Solo shows
2012 Sing my body electric, Uppsala Konstmuseum, Uppsala, Sweden.
2010 Body 5 Arrives, ADN Galeria, Barcelona, Spain. Almost Human, curated by Johan Sjöström, Gothenburg Art Museum, Gothenburg, Sweden. Almost Human, Andréhn‐Schiptjenko, Stockholm, Sweden.
2009 ASFR, performance curated by Adriana Rispoli & Eugenio Viola, MADRE Museum of Contemporary Art, Naples, Italy.
2008 Performance at Feinkost, Berlin, Germany
2007 YAMA, Hotel Marmara Istanbul, curated by Mark Aerial Waller, Turkey The Hall, Istanbul, curated by Derya Demir, Turkey Mantis City, White Project Arte Contemporanea, Pescara, Italy Enemies of the Earth, ADN Galería, Barcelona, Spain
2006 Mantis City, Duolun MOMA, Shangai, China Killing Spree, PfPerfomance, AAirtium D2, SSlalamanca, SSipain Killing Spree, Performance, Stockholm, presented by Andrehn‐Schiptjenko, Sweden
2005 Killing Spree Performance, organized by Loop Barcelona 2005 and ADN Galería, Spain Killing Spree Performance and launcing of the CD, organized and co‐produced by Kunsthalle Nürnberg, Germany Performance at Rothko NYC, USA
2004 Art Basel Miami Beach, Art Positions, Andrehn‐Schiptjenko, Miami, USA Performance at Centre d´art contemporaine, Geneva, Switzerland Cosmic Galerie, Paris, France Andrehn‐Schiptjenko, Stockholm, Sweden
2003 Galería Sogospatty, Rome, curated by Mauro Bianchini, Italy Animated Me No.2, Museum fur Gegenwartskunst, Basilea, Switzerland
2002 Artissima, Present Future, Cosmic Galerie, Turin, Italy Nekropolis, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, comisariado de Laurence Dreyfus, France Re‐Animate Me, Performance/CD‐release, Färgfabriken, Stockholm, Sweden In the dead of night, Moniquemeloche, Chicago, USA
2001 Performance, Sparwasse HQ, Berlin, Germany c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
2000 Performance, Bukowskis, Stockholm, Sweden
1999 Super Twins, Galleri Axel Mörner, Stockholm, Sweden Museum Meltdown, Moderna Muset, Stockholm, Sweden (con Palle Torsson)
1998 Galleri Mejan, Stockholm, Sweden Dancing Boulevard Café Symphony, Galleri FC, Malmö, Sweden
1996 Galleri Moment, Ängelholm, Sweden
1995 Lovely Me, Station Skelderhus Magasinet, Munka Ljungby, Sweden Electric Boogie, Gallery TRE, Stockholm, Sweden
Group shows
2012 Musique Plastique, agnes b. Gallery, New York, USA
2011 Revólver, curated by Garbiel Mestre, Casino Metropolitano, Mexico City, Mexico. You Are Free, Kunsthalle Exnergasse, Vienna, Austria. Intervalli, curated by Eugenio Viola. Palazzo Mezzopreti, a Montepagano Roseto degli Abruzzi, Italy. Stockholm Diaries, curated by Jan Walaker. Steen & Strøm Magasin, Oslo, Norway. Market Stockholm, Andréhn‐Schiptjenko, Stokholm, Sweden.
2010 12th Cairo Biennale, Cairo, Egypt Fame Family Vaudeville, curated by Power Ekroth. Darb, Cairo, Egypt. Home & Origin, curated by Rodrigo Mallea Lira, Bukowskis, Stockholm, Sweden. New Gravity/Interesting Thing, National Centre of Contemporary Art (NCCA), Moscú, Russia. No SSloul For SSlale, curatdted by MiiMaurizio CttlCattelan. TtTate MdModern, LdLondon, UK
2009 Narcotica, Forgotten Bar Project, New York, USA Embassy of Piracy, Internet Pavilion, Collateral Events at the Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy Northwave, Overview of Video Art in The Nordic Countries, Venice, Italy Forgotten Bar Project, ALP Gallery, Stockholm, Sweden
2008 Crossing, Centro de l’Arte Contemporanea, Prato, Italy Avatar, Australian Centre for Photography, Paddington, Australia The practice of Everyday Life, Feinkost, Berlin, Germany Try Again, Mitxelena, curated by Juan Antonio Alvarez Reyes, Spain Eastern Standart – Western Artists in China, MASS MOCA, Massachusetts, USA Pop! Goes the weasel, Badischer Kustverein, Karlsrue, Germany
2007 An evening with K48, The Kitchen, New York, USA c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Acceleration, CAN / Karting, Neuchatel, Switzerland +Insects, Centre d´art la Panera, Lleida, Spain Art Feminism, Gothenburg Art Museum, Sweden Meme: Romanticism, EFA Galery, curated by Michele Thurzs, New York, USA Switch on the Power!, Centro Cultural Montehermoso, curated by Xabier Arakistain, Vitoria, Spain
2006 Switch on the Power!, CAAM, curated by Xabier Arakistain, Las Palmas, Spain Valencia. Art, ADN Galeria, Spain Torpedo, curatedpor Geir Haraldseth, Oslo, Norway Art Feminism, Liljevalchs, Stockholm, Sweden. Switch on the Power!, MARCO, curated by Xabier Arakistain, Vigo, Spain
2005 Trouble with Fantasy, curated by Ellen Seifermann, Kunsthalle Nurnberg, Nunberg, Germany Art Feminism, Dunkers Kulturhus, Helsingborg, Helsinborg, Sweden Culture as Play, Microwave International Media Art, curated by Hector Rodriguez, Hong King, China. Future for cities, Nancy 2005, Le temps de lumieres, Nancy, France Armory Show, Andrehn‐Schiptjenko, Stockholm, Sweden
2004 Version 2004, Centre pour l´image contemporaine, Geneva, Switzerland I need You, with Palle Torsson, Kunsthalle, Biel, Switzerland Live, Palais de Tokyo, organization by Jerome Sans, Paris, France Another Zero, GAMeC, curated by November Paynter, Bergamo, Italy
2003 Fantastic Prophecy, BAK, curated by Liutauras Psibilskis / Anne Fletcher, Utrecth, Holland Art Digital Video, AFAA, curated by Laurence Dreyfus, Paris, France Attack!, Wien Kunsthalle, Wien, en colaboración con Palle Torsson, Viena, Austria Phantom of Desire, Neue Galerie am Landesmuseum Joanneum, curated by Peter Weibel, Graz, Slovenia NOWN, Wood street Gallery, Pittsburgh, USA
2002 Busan Biennale, Metropolitan Art Musem, curated by Kim Airyung, Busan, Korea Nouvelle Accuisitions, FRAC Champagna/Ardenne, Reims, France Game Over City, FRAC Champagne/Ardenne, curated by Laurence Dreyfus, Reims, France On the top of the world, Gio´ Marconi, curated by Caroline Corbetta, Milano, Italy
2001 9th Biennale of moving images, Centre pour l´image contemporain, Geneva, Switzerland KIMAF, Centre for Contemporary Art, curated by Katya Stukalova/Natalia Manzhali, Kiev, Ucraina Tirana Biennale, organisación de Giancarlo Politi, Albania Connivence, Biennale de Lyon, Musée d´art contemporain, Lyon, France Monitor Vol.1, Gagosian Gallery, New York, USA Male, Galerija sodobne umetnosti, curated by Irena Cercnik & Nevenka Šivavec, Celje, Slovenia Berlin_London, ICA, curated by Rüdger Lange & Antje Weitzel, Londres, UK Disco, Arena Gallery, curated by Monique Meloche, Chicago, USA The Armory Show, Galleri Axel Mörner, New York City, USA c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
2000 Shivers, Cesare Manzo Gallery, curated by Mauro Bianchini, Pescara, Italy Home Wrecker, Monique Meloche, Chicago, USA And She Will Have Your Eyes... Galerie Analix Forever, Geneva, Switzerland The Standard Projection, The Standard Hotel, curated by Yvonne Force Villareal, Los Angeles, USA Organising Freedom, Charlottenborg, curated by David Elliott, Copenhagen, Denmark Art 31 Basel Art Fair, Galerie Analix Forever,,, Basel, Switzerland i‐ART, Contemporary Art in TIME, ArtNode, Stockholm, Sweden Teleport Diner, con Creative Time y Färgfabriken, Stockholm, Sweden Organising Freedom, Moderna Museet, curated by David Elliott, Stockholm, Sweden Shoot, Moving Images by Artists, Malmö Konsthall, Sweden
1999 A & E, Chicago Project Room, curated by Michael Hall, USA Blick, Moderna Museet, curated by Maria Lind/Cecilia Widenheim, Stockholm, Sweden Motion Studies, Galleri Tommy Lund, Copenhagen/Odense, Denmark Art Forum Berlin, Galleri Axel Mörner, Berlin, Germany I Var Sitt Rum, Vikingsbergs Konstmuseum, Helsingborg, Sweden Chelsea (Internet, Active Worlds), curated by Ginger Freeman, United Kingdom The Armory Show, Galleri Axel Mörner, New York City, USA Stockholm Art Fair, Galleri Axel Mörner, Stockholm, Sweden Nuit Blanche Nordic Video Tour, Musée d´Árt Moderne de la Ville de Paris, France
1998 7th Muestra international de performance Ex‐Teresa Arte Actual, Mexico City, Mexico Swedish Mess Arkipelag, Nordiska Museet, curated by Maria Lind/Sara Arrhenius, Stockholm, Sweden Pakkhus, Momentum, Moss curated by Daniel Birnbaum, Atle Gerhardsen & Lars Bang Larsen, Norway Gekko, Munchen Bryggeriet, Stocolma, Sweden Pleasure and Commitment Galleri Index, Stockholm, Sweden Stockholm Art Fair, Galleri Axel Mörner, Stockholm, Sweden NitNuit Blanc he MMéusée dÁrt MdModerne de la Ville de PPiaris, France
1997 Performance Festival, Odense, Denmark The Male of The Species, (with Palle Torsson), MUU Gallery, Helsinki, Finland Liste‐97, The Young Art Fair in Basel, Switzerland Perish Duende, Rotterdam, Holanda Funny vs Bizarre, The Contemporary Art Centre of Vilnius y Art Hall de Riga (con Palle Torsson) curated by Kestutis Kuizinas, Riga, Latvia Smart Show Goes To Sea, Gallery TRE, Stockholm‐Helsinki, Sweden‐Finlandia Projekt III, Gallery TRE, Stockholm, Sweden
1996 The Scream Arken, Museum of Modern Art, Ishoj (con Palle Torsson) curated by Kim Levin, Electronic, Ishoj, Denmark Undercurrents Statens Museum For Kunst, Copenhagen, Denmark Artgenda, Kulturhuset, Stockholm, Sweden c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Love All Färgfabriken, Stockholm, Sweden MUU Gallery, Helsinki, Finlandia Uthärda Kulturhuset, Stockholm, Sweden Offside‐Nordic Natives in Global Village Bergen, Norway Breaking Eyes Färgfabriken, Stockholm, Sweden Artgg,enda, Oksnehallen, Coppg,enhagen, Denmark Stockholm Smart Show, Sweden Otto Plonk, Bergen (con Lova Hamilton), Norway
1995 Oslo‐One Night Stand, Kunstnerernes Hus (con Lova Hamilton), Oslo, Norway Stockholm ArtHotel (con Palle Torsson), Stockholm, Sweden Re‐View Gallery TRE, Stockholm, Sweden Stockholm Art Fair, Stockholm, Sweden c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Publicaciones / Publications c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Almost Human (ISBN 91 87968 71 1) Book produced and published by Gothenburg Museum of Art 2010, Ed. of 500 c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Textos selección /Texts selection c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Biljana Ciric | Interview with Tobias Bernstrup Mantis City. Exhibition text for Shanghai Duolun MoMA October 2006
BC: Let’s start from beginning…can you tell me where you studied, the first piece that you produced, and about your interest in video games?
TB: I got my MFA at The Royal College University of Fine Arts in Stockholm 1993‐1998. One of my very first works was a peepshow cinema‐lklike installation where I projected a vi deo s howing me dddressed up as a love dlldoll. I have always been interested in working with sets and costumes in both performances and videos. The music has often played a central role in my work. Before art school I had a background playing in different bands. But my interest in video games and computers started long before that when I was a kid. I played a lot of Space invaders on the first Atari console and then later I got a Commodore VIC‐20 home computer on which I programed my very first computer games in the language BASIC.
BC: How the collaboration with Palle Torsson start and how did it work between you two developing an idea collectively? TB: We met in college and shared an interest for computers and critical ideas. We did a series of collaborations together, among them 'Join Hands' one of the first Internet based project in 1995, that ended up in a controversy and got censored. After that we worked on the project 'Museum Meltdown' (1995‐1999) where we reconstructed three different art museum in classical First Person Shooter games like Duke Nukem, Quake and Half‐Life. The visitor was able to walk around in a game version of the museum shooting monsters, breaking and blowing up the master pieces.
BC: Your video game based work can be connected with the Koolhaas "Generic City" concept of places without qualities and identity. How is architectural structure in your video work connected to the social and cultural layers in between?
TB: I often try to disconnect the architecture and isolate it by removing the individual and the functionality as doors etc. I pay a lot of attention to textures and repetitiveness. I prefer to look at architecture as sets.
BC: Besides video game based animation pieces you ar also perform your own music. What was you first performance, and what was the character that you developed?
TB: My first music performance was in 1997, a project onboard a ferry cruiser between Stockholm and Helsinki during the European Smart Show Art Fair. I was performing Italo Disco songs from mid 1980s. My costume at that time was a kind of androgynous gigolo look. After that performances gradually started to merge more and more with my digital characters and environments.
BC: The notion of sexuality is present in your performances as well as the question of gender. How is it connecttded to your other works? Where the inspiration for these characters come from?
TB: All my works deal with a fascination for the surface. It can be the shiny surface of a rubber costume or the sterile facade of a skyscraper of metal and glass. Many of my characters are inspired by video games ‐ characters that often represent a stereotype of a sexual fantasy. But at the same time the interactive nature of a video game allows the player to assume any sexual identity and gender when choosing an avatar. c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
BC: Mantis City is the piece that you produced for you Shanghai solo exhibition implying the techniques of early science fiction movies. What is the concept of the piece and what are the issues that you are trying to raise?
TB: In the summer of 2005 I spent a month in Shanghai. I had just been watching the film 'Logans run' and came to think of the similarities with the architecture model the used for the opening scene of the movie. I constructed a 1:1000 scale model over the futuristic Pudong skyline in which live insects, Praying Mantises were filmed as they clbdlimbed the Orienta l Pear l an d Jin Mao towers and snuc k aroun d in t he ddkark bbfefore their flfinal confrontation. Fildlmed with a macro lens the insects appear like giant monsters. The idea of the two Mantises came from the old Chinese tradition of insect fights and is also inspired by early Asian Sci‐Fi movies like Mothra and Godzilla where these monsters invade the city. The history of the mantis has been surrounded by myths as described in French surrealist avant‐garde theorist Roger Callois' essay "The Praying Mantis" some true others not, but still a fascinating creature...
BC: Can you tell me about the relationship between Mantis City and urban development of China especially Shanghai? Did you think about how the piece will be preceived by the local audience?
TB: While working on the piece, I became interested in the 'unrealness' of the architecture ‐ how reality mimics fiction and vice versa.
BC: Can you tell me about your records and CD’s you have produced? Where are they distributed? Who are the buyers and who are the people who listen your music?
TB: My music releases are a part of my work production as an artist. I have done music releases in collaboration with museums and institutions such as Färgfabriken in Stockholm and Kunsthalle Nuremberg. Since 2002 I have been running my own label Tonight Records. The records are mainly sold and distributed through art book stores, and a few special dedicated record stores in Europe and the US. Apart from people the art world I also have an audience connected to the electronic music and club scene.
BC: Is there any film director or any figure who have been influential on your work?
TB: I am a big fan of John Carpenter (both as a director and composer), Kubrick, Cronenberg and Fritz Lang to name a few.
2006 Duolun Museum of Modern Art Shanghai Translation: Shui Jitian, Liu Yuncong c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Catherine Wood | Another Zero Another Zero, cat. GAMeC, Bergamo, curated by November Paynter 2004
...Tobias Bernstrup's work also explores the point at which the real and the virtual meet, although Bernstrup turn the llliminality into a positive possiblbility to play out fantasy, writing on his website that "thegameistheperfect fhfetish reality".
In his Live performances and video installations, such as In The Dead Of Night (2000), Friedrich Passage (2001) and Penthouse Idle (2000) Bernstrup splices images of his real‐time locality with a parallel virtual world, mapping photographs of himself and his environments onto the matrix of computer game programmers. Bernstrup and his immediate geographical environs are transplanted into a virtual reality world where, as a simulated avatar, he can play out a specific kind of fantasy which retains an umbilical link to the real world. In his performances such as Tobias Bernstrup Tonight Live, this process is reversed. Bernstrup dresses up in elaborate costumes with rubber surfaces so shiny and perfect and make‐up so convincingly 'drag' as to mimic computer renderings of his desired image.
Bernstrup is fascinated with with the fetishistic quality of artificial surfaces, and the soundtracks to his videos are equally airtight and electronic. His work pictures the position of the human subject caught up in and trying to exist by being visible with the enveloping skin of the image world. Bernstrup's work blurs the boundaries of the real and the imaggyinary by allowing elements of each to seep into the other: as a result of this, hisvideoshaveasliggyhtly cut & paste home‐made look, but his live performances an unreal, seamless transcendence of real space and time. Givens of real biology or geography are suggested as areas for slippage rather than fixed points in his world in which everything has become surface, none of its aspects wholly traceable back to tangible experience.
Catherine Wood c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Prensa selección /Press selection c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Artitude, 10‐4‐2010 c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Artnotes, 6‐2008 c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Arte y Parte, 4‐2007 c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Artnotes, 3‐19‐2007 c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Modern Painters, 12‐2005 c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Modern Painters, 12‐2005 c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Konstperspektiv, Issue No. 04/05, 2005 c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Konstperspektiv, Issue No. 04/05, 2005 c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Art News, 11‐2004 c/ Enrique Granados, 49, SP. 08008 Barcelona T. (+34) 93 451 0064, [email protected] http://www.adngaleria.com
Art News, 11‐2004