The Lost Boys , C-print from paper collage , from the exhibition Undercurrents, Moderna Museet, 2022
Photo: Helene Toresdotter.
In this exhibition, Moderna Museet Malmö presents new works by Per Wizen (b. 1966). The pieces were created in the wake of a journey back into the artist's own childhood that was set off by his discovery of some long-forgotten Disneyland magazines from the 1970s in an attic.
Through the lens of popular cultural images, Wizén invites us into some colourful fantasies based on Disney's versions of Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan. The two characters have in common that they confront worlds that lie beyond the known, the illuminated, the rational - worlds of opportunity but also of darkness. As always in Wizen's complex artistry, these new works are intimately linked with earlier ones, delving deeper into certain aspects
Blue Hunt and Send in the Clowns, C-prints from paper collages, from the exhibition Undercurrents, Moderna Museet, 2022.
Photo: Helene Toresdotter.
The large-scale photographs are based on collages made up of tens of thousands of image fragments or pieces arranged by the artist in an extremely complex and time-consuming process. New worlds are created based on existing images. Adventure stories and a return to his own childhood form layers in these new works, but beneath the innocent and playful surfaces lurks something disconcerting.
Wizen's working method relies on a strict set of self-imposed rules, precision, and great patience. In the course of working with his collages, Wizen keeps the whole of the new picture in mind while simultaneously concentrating on the details. The process may be likened to deep meditations that open the door for something unexpected and dark to emerge - something the intellect cannot grasp. It is there beyond the words that the artist's world and the observer's world meet.
Reenactor, paper collage, from the exhibition Undercurrents, Moderna Museet, 2022. Photo: Helene Toresdotter
Per Wizen lives and works in Malmö. His work has been featured in both solo and group exhibitions in Sweden, Finland, the United States, and several other countries. Undercurrents is Per Wizén's first solo show at Moderna Museet. Examples of the artist's work are included in the collections of a number of Swedish and international museums.
Curator: Iris Müller-Westermann
Trespassers I and Trespassers II, paper collage , from the exhibition Undercurrents, Moderna Museet , 2022.
Photo: Helene Toresdotter.
