Roger Ballen, “Roger The Rat” for LOOP Fair Barcelona

15- 17 November 2022

📍Room 304, Almanac Barcelona

We’re happy to announce Roger Ballen as this year’s artist for Loop Fair with his work: “Roger the Rat”, which will be exhibited at #LOOP22 (15-17 Nov) where a selection of contemporary artists’ films and videos will be presented by international galleries in a unique viewing experience in Barcelona.

Roger Ballen created a persona, Roger the Rat. Here, the artist creates and documents an archetypal persona who is a part-human, part-rat creature who lives an isolated life outside of mainstream society. In this film, we follow Roger the Rat, as he moves out of his restrictive hovel to an abandoned graveyard of discarded mannequins taking them to his house to dress and communicate with them.

Initially Roger the Rat was ecstatic with his newfound companions as he could dress them, talk to them and share his feelings. As time passes, he comes increasingly frustrated by their lack of response which leads to his outbursts of violent and irrational behavior. Roger the Rat, gives expression to the corroding effects of loneliness, seclusion, and uncomfortable suffocation in confined spaces afflicted on the human psyche as a consequence of the isolation.

ARTIST BIO

Roger Ballen was born in New York in 1950, son of a photograph editor at Magnum.

Ballen has worked as a geologist and mine consultant before launching his own photographic career, documenting small towns in rural Africa and their isolated inhabitants, spending more than 40 years living there.

It was in the 90s when his style changed, trying the black and white technique and a more ‘documentary fiction’ approach to his work. Ballen has always been intrigued by the idea of a hybrid between photography and drawing, as well as the expansion of his visual language, making him experiment with video works where the human conditions are his main subject matter.

He is considered one of the most influential artists of the 21st century, having published over 25 books internationally and being part of multiple solo and group exhibitions since 1981.

The work is signed by the AES+F collective, artists who have represented Russia on various occasions and events such as the Venice Biennale and Sao Paulo, and who at this time have openly distanced themselves from the politics of their country. A choice intended to support artistic production regardless of the country of origin.

Inverso Mundus is a critique of the despotic situation we live in today, in the midst of the climate, social and economic crisis, exploitation and gender inequality. The video work, about 40 minutes long, is presented with an ad hoc setting designed by the designer Andrea Isola with the input of the participants in the Exhibition Design workshop organized by Recontemporary in the days immediately prior to the opening.

To enrich the exhibition, the suggestive Mon Viewing Room by collector Michele Forneris, in collaboration with Recontemporary, hosts another work by the artists, Psychosis, which can be visited by appointment by sending an email to spazioomon@gmail.com: a little hidden gem in the city for the most curious.

The work “Inverso Mundus” has as its initial point of reference the carnivalesque engravings of the 16th century in the “upside down world” genre, an early form of populist social criticism that emerged with the arrival of Gutenberg’s printing press. The title of the project mixes old Italian and Latin, from a centuries-old stratification of meanings, combining “Inverso”, the Italian “reverso” and old Italian “poetry”, with the Latin “Mundus”, which means “world”. “.

This work reinterprets contemporaneity through the tradition of printmaking, depicting a contemporary world consumed by a tragicomic apocalypse where social conventions are turned upside down to highlight underlying premises we take for granted:

Metrosexual garbage men bathe the streets with sewage and garbage. An international board of directors is usurped by its impoverished doppelgangers. The poor give alms to the rich. Chimeras come down from the sky to be petted like pets. A pig guts a butcher. Women dressed in cocktail dresses sensually torture men in cages and devices inspired by IKEA furniture in an ironic reversal of the Inquisition. Tweens and octogenarians fight a kickboxing match. Riot police embrace protesters in an orgy on a huge luxurious bed. Men and women carry donkeys on their backs and virus-like radiolaria in Haeckel’s illustrations, peering out and perching on unsuspecting people who are busy taking selfies.

The video’s background music is an amalgamation of Léon Boëllmann’s 1895 Gothique, an original piece by contemporary composer and media artist Dmitry Morozov (also known as VTOL), along with excerpts from Ravel, Liszt, Mozart and Tchaikovsky, with a special emphasis on “Casta Diva” by Norma by Vincenzo Bellini.

Recontemporary message:

“The works are a reference to the current situation of sudden changes and extreme instability, a moment in which more than ever it is necessary to be carried away by the communicative power of art and the power it has to unite and make people reflect, synthesizing universal messages.”

The work is signed by the AES+F collective, artists who have represented Russia on various occasions and events such as the Venice Biennale and Sao Paulo, and who at this time have openly distanced themselves from the politics of their country. A choice intended to support artistic production regardless of the country of origin.

Inverso Mundus is a critique of the despotic situation we live in today, in the midst of the climate, social and economic crisis, exploitation and gender inequality. The video work, about 40 minutes long, is presented with an ad hoc setting designed by the designer Andrea Isola with the input of the participants in the Exhibition Design workshop organized by Recontemporary in the days immediately prior to the opening.

To enrich the exhibition, the suggestive Mon Viewing Room by collector Michele Forneris, in collaboration with Recontemporary, hosts another work by the artists, Psychosis, which can be visited by appointment by sending an email to spazioomon@gmail.com: a little hidden gem in the city for the most curious.

The work “Inverso Mundus” has as its initial point of reference the carnivalesque engravings of the 16th century in the “upside down world” genre, an early form of populist social criticism that emerged with the arrival of Gutenberg’s printing press. The title of the project mixes old Italian and Latin, from a centuries-old stratification of meanings, combining “Inverso”, the Italian “reverso” and old Italian “poetry”, with the Latin “Mundus”, which means “world”. “.

This work reinterprets contemporaneity through the tradition of printmaking, depicting a contemporary world consumed by a tragicomic apocalypse where social conventions are turned upside down to highlight underlying premises we take for granted:

Metrosexual garbage men bathe the streets with sewage and garbage. An international board of directors is usurped by its impoverished doppelgangers. The poor give alms to the rich. Chimeras come down from the sky to be petted like pets. A pig guts a butcher. Women dressed in cocktail dresses sensually torture men in cages and devices inspired by IKEA furniture in an ironic reversal of the Inquisition. Tweens and octogenarians fight a kickboxing match. Riot police embrace protesters in an orgy on a huge luxurious bed. Men and women carry donkeys on their backs and virus-like radiolaria in Haeckel’s illustrations, peering out and perching on unsuspecting people who are busy taking selfies.

The video’s background music is an amalgamation of Léon Boëllmann’s 1895 Gothique, an original piece by contemporary composer and media artist Dmitry Morozov (also known as VTOL), along with excerpts from Ravel, Liszt, Mozart and Tchaikovsky, with a special emphasis on “Casta Diva” by Norma by Vincenzo Bellini.

La obra está firmada por el colectivo AES+F, artistas que han representado a Rusia en diversas ocasiones y eventos como la Bienal de Venecia y Sao Paulo, y que en este momento se han distanciado abiertamente de la política de su país. Una elección destinada a apoyar la producción artística independientemente del país de origen.

Inverso Mundus es una crítica a la situación despótica que vivimos hoy, en medio de la crisis climática, social y económica, la explotación y la desigualdad de género. La obra de vídeo, de unos 40 minutos de duración, se presenta con una ambientación ad hoc diseñada por la diseñadora Andrea Isola con la aportación de los participantes en el taller de Diseño de Exhibiciones organizado por Recontemporary en los días inmediatamente anteriores a la inauguración.

La obra “Inverso Mundus” tiene como punto de referencia inicial los grabados carnavalescos del siglo XVI en el género del “mundo al revés”, una forma temprana de crítica social populista surgida con la llegada de la imprenta de Gutenberg. El título del proyecto mezcla el italiano antiguo y el latín, a partir de una estratificación de significados centenaria, combinando “Inverso”, el “reverso” italiano y la “poesía” italiana antigua, con el latín “Mundus”, que significa “mundo”.

Installation at Recontemporary, Torino

Esta obra reinterpreta la contemporaneidad a través de la tradición del grabado, representando un mundo contemporáneo consumido por un apocalipsis tragicómico donde las convenciones sociales se trastornan para resaltar las premisas subyacentes que damos por sentadas:

Los basureros metrosexuales bañan las calles con aguas negras y basura. Una junta directiva internacional es usurpada por sus dobles empobrecidos. Los pobres dan limosna a los ricos. Las quimeras bajan del cielo para ser acariciadas como mascotas. Un cerdo destripa a un carnicero. Mujeres vestidas con vestidos de cóctel torturan sensualmente a los hombres en jaulas y dispositivos inspirados en los muebles de IKEA en una irónica inversión de la Inquisición. Preadolescentes y octogenarios pelean un combate de kickboxing. La policía antidisturbios abraza a los manifestantes en una orgía sobre una enorme cama de lujo. Hombres y mujeres llevan burros a la espalda y radiolarios similares a los virus de las ilustraciones de Haeckel, se asoman y se posan sobre personas desprevenidas que están ocupadas tomándose selfies.

La música de fondo del video es una amalgama del Gothique de 1895 de Léon Boëllmann, una pieza original del compositor y artista de medios contemporáneo Dmitry Morozov (también conocido como VTOL), junto con extractos de Ravel, Liszt, Mozart y Tchaikovsky, con un énfasis especial en “Casta Diva” de Norma de Vincenzo Bellini.

Installation at Recontemporary, Torino

The Russian collective AES+F exhibits once again through galeria SENDA: “Mare Mediterraneum“, after passing through the Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Italy in 2018 –an official event at the same time as the Manifesta art fair– and its follow-up exhibition at Trafalgar, 32, in 2019. This time, we present a single show for this edition of The Armory Show in New York, from September 9 to 11, 2022 at the Javits Center.

Press release (excerpt):

The Mediterranean Sea is the reserve of civilization: its heart has pumped people, cultures and religions from one coast to another like blood. The Phoenicians and the Carthaginians expanded to the north, the Romans and the Crusades to the south, the Genoese to the east, the Byzantine empire to the west, the Islamic caliphate to the east, west, north, and south. Sicily is right in the middle and the storm waves of all civilizations have splashed on its shores. This is still happening today.

The Mediterranean Sea is once again the epicenter of the ideological contradiction. The war has pushed refugees and migrants who, to save themselves, have had to swim and survive to face Europe with a difficult choice. (In ancient mythology, Europe was also forced to cross this sea.) His election has led to political and ideological clashes, the polarization of public opinion and the rise of xenophobia and ethnic violence.

This tragic situation has become a political conflict, as well as an issue of negotiation and ideological speculation. In this way, it has been transmitted by the media as a concept defined today as “post-truth”. The ethical situation that has developed is paradoxical.

Working with porcelain figures in this theme could be considered an extreme manifestation of this paradox, from a distance an artistic image can be more radical than reality itself because it can push conceptual boundaries.

Porcelain has always been a symbol of satisfaction and bourgeois comfort. The recent waves of migration have confronted Europe with a dilemma: whether to accept the refugees, allowing them to enter at the expense of the material and psychological comfort of their hosts; or to reject them in an immoral, inhuman and cynical act that would damage the cooperative ethical basis of Europe itself.

Comfort is fallible and fragile, like the china associated with it. Kept safe for generations in high places, porcelain figurines are carefully guarded but their fragility encapsulates the threat of instant loss. They break easily.

The chosen form and material of these works contrast with the drama of what is unfolding in the Mediterranean today. A reflected ray of light illuminates better than a direct one. We think this bears truth about this work.

Edited by David Elliott

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