STOCKHOLM — A PEEK AT ERIK TIDEMANN

Norwegian artist Erik Tidemann was raised by his grandparents, who were taxidermists, in a tiny village outside of Trondheim. Still he never felt lonely, see he had a whole house full of action figurines and stuffed animals to play with. 20 years later, he’s still pretty much playing with the same stuff, only in the adult way of doing so: by making art. His The Eazy-E HIV Odyssey exhibition opens in Stockholm tonight at Gallery Steinsland Berliner so pass by if you get the chance.

He just moved back to Norway after having studied art in London for six years, which left him broke, and for some reason he seems to manage just fine making a living as an artist in the most expensive country on planet earth. His pubertal and insane—we mean this in a good way—art is heavily influenced by trash culture, extreme subcultures, weird loners, Matthew Barney and taxidermy, of course. Oh and his dead dog Chico is part of the exhibition too as he missed his old doggy-buddy so much that he turned him into a portable gravestone and put the ashes in a purse around his stuffed dog waste—taxidermy is seen as a way of resurrection in Norway. Anyway, let’s put Chico aside and have a little peek at some of his other pieces.

Photo by Lars Holan.

This is a documentation of the sculpture Animal Check List I did back in 2006. It’s a cocoon made out of eight deers, a roe deer, a wolf, a black bear, a coyote, nine red foxes, two squirrels, a mink, four racoons, two wolverines, two badgers and a beaver. The cocoon absorbs the souls of the dead animals it’s made out of, while you wear it on your head like an extended head that becomes your new head. As it’s far too big to move around with, you’re trapped in your head while wearing it. I love this piece even though it’s a bitch to transport and store because, for some reason, no one wants to own an animal brain machine.

This painting is called Michael Jacks Head Trax and it radically changed the way I paint. Before making it, I only made serious aesthetic paintings looking all academic and well crafted instead of choosing images with humour and naivety. Then I suddenly felt the urge to paint this Michael-Jackson-transvestite-shiva-mass-murderer-performer wearing a 50 cent t-shirt. I finished it in a few hours and liked that intense process so much that all my paintings look like this ever since. As if they were made by some un-academic loner who still lives at his mum’s. I really like the way my paintings mix with my big taxidermy sculptures.

This piece is called Fight For Your Right, Get a Ladies Night and deals with the white man’s biggest fear: the myth of the big black cock. I like to play with randomness so I usually just see what comes to mind as I paint along. I actually started with that big alien in the back, which is only a wall painting by the way—see the electric plug on the left side of the wall? It’s funny because it changes people’s perception of it whenever I tell them about the plug. I don’t even know why that girl is holding a sword, maybe it’s just a fake sword from a costume shop because she’s definitely not about to cut his dick off. Anyway, women tend to like this piece or “fallosy” as I’ve heard them call it.

BY MILÈNE LARSSON

Comments

[mads]

The white man's fear haha, righto…

[ft]

nigger socks

[Sam]

art sure has come a long way since picasso drew black penis

[Arild]

Is the a catolgue and/or poster for the exhibition available to order for those of us that cannot see it in Stockholm?

[aMazing]

Once you go black...

[aMazing]

And, I like the art

[Ayman]

Hi Ann-Charlotte, The prices you quote for the cards are itcrcuaane. They are in fact SEK 200 for the seven-month season if you buy online and SEK 250 if you buy from a Stockholm City Bike retailer. It's not entirely clear on their website, but the three-day card is SEK 125 with no price differentiation specified for online or retailer purchases.Either way, even better value than you indicate in your post.Best regards, Nick Chipperfield

[Luis]

Hi,I am travelling from Ireland with my wife & 4 other freidns to do the Stockholm marathon on 30th May (which also happens to be my 40th birthday). Can you recommend a good casual restaurant for the 6 of us to go to on Sunday 31st May to celebrate completing (hopefully) the marathon & my $0th birthday.We are staying in a hotel in d6stermalm (Riddergartan Hotel). Thanks. Trevor.

[Luis]

Hi,I am travelling from Ireland with my wife & 4 other freidns to do the Stockholm marathon on 30th May (which also happens to be my 40th birthday). Can you recommend a good casual restaurant for the 6 of us to go to on Sunday 31st May to celebrate completing (hopefully) the marathon & my $0th birthday.We are staying in a hotel in d6stermalm (Riddergartan Hotel). Thanks. Trevor.