Underskog

Press release

Issa Salliander

Til Our Shadows Cease to Meet

3 March – 16 April 2011

Opening Thursday 3 March 2011 from 6 to 8 pm

Galleri MGM
Haxthausensgate 3
N-0263 Oslo
Tel: +47 23 27 06 76
www.gallerimgm.com

Galleri MGM has the pleasure of introducing Issa Salliander’s first solo exhibition in the gallery. Titled Til Our Shadows Cease to Meet, the exhibition explores the drama and humour found in the battle of good versus evil, and the conflict between life and death. Through the calculated ambiguity of her subjects, Salliander makes her audience question their preconceived notions of this dichotomy.

In Freebird II, a motionless, dead bird becomes free from the shackles of flying in reference to Lynyrd Skynyrd’s guitar anthem. Til Our Shadows Cease To Meet conjures a shady image of a man whose eyes, and true intentions, are obscured by the shadow of his hat, while deathly mystery awaits on the other side. The viewer’s inability to differentiate an angel from a villain continues in Moose In The Headlights, a diptych with a giant, sullen moose on one side and a stream of headlights on the other. The theme is also apparent in her portraits. Cowboy’s Lament I is either a heroic or lamenting icon, Brand New Angel is a post-apocalyptic fantasy, while Hector is a quiffed vulture named after Morrisey’s First Of The Gang To Die.

Salliander references the history of art as much as Rock’n Roll irreverence and the themes of contemporary culture. Her large-scale works, which entice the viewer into its own world, are at the same time mesmerising and challenging. Using subtle humour and a sprinkle of ambiguity, she immediately connects with her audience. She represents a new and interesting voice in contemporary painting.

Issa Salliander was born in Stockholm in 1984. She moved to Oxford, England, as a teenager and it is there that she began her art studies. In 2006 Issa completed her MFA at City & Guilds of London Art School and she continues to live and work in London. In the past years she has been featured in several group exhibitions, including Faces at Leo Gallery, Shanghai, Cullen Art Services, Location 1, London, Cullen Art Services, Location 1.5, Zurich and Kandlhofer Art Collective, Vienna.

To arrange a preview of the exhibition, please contact the gallery or visit the website

www.gallerimgm.com

Upcoming exhibition: Per Barclay, May 5, 2011