Roberto Ekholm

Ekholm’s works originate from an ongoing fascination with the body, gym equipment, healing and the cultural production of fears and desire of survival. Inherent in the work is the interplay between the body, identity, and social structures. An absurd healing trend often leads his research to ancient beliefs of healing, aesthetics of a trendy gym interior or a performative act inspired by Dosso Dossi’s Allegory of Fortune. He cherry-picks across history to find references that combine to tell us something about our identity and beliefs, for instance combining a Grindr username with the traditional name of the paint colour. His sculptural compositions convey the humorous absurdity of buying into projected ideals of fitness and healing trends, what he calls “commodity of survival”.

Working with Sculpture performative photographs and performances he builds a dialogue between the absurd, social observations to a focus on materiality and painterly notions.

"Ekholm’s work also considers similar possibilities of healing, restoration and redemption. Using fitness equipment as a means to look at the construction of identity through repetition and stamina, Ekholm strips objects such as medicine balls, yoga mats and weights of their original context by using colours which may allude to new meanings. Retaining a form and materiality to stand in for the body as a performance of self, these newly repurposed objects bring our attention to the myriad ways in which our relationship to our bodies can change throughout our lifetimes. Recalling a minimalist aesthetic, Adonis (Leather, Carmine, Atomic Red), 2018, sees barbell weights hung on the walls of MOCA London to gain a quiet meditative power and a sexual subtext in gentle homage to the work of Felix Gonzales-Torres. " Anna Ricciardi 2019

Roberto Ekholm

Born Gothenburg, Sweden 1976

Living and working in London

2002–2005 BA Fine Art Goldsmiths College University of London London

1996-1998 BA Dance Laban Centre for Movement and Dance London

upcoming:

2018 Sweep ~Landskip, Kinokino Sandnes, Stavanger Norway.

SOLO SHOWS:

2014 The Traveller, Jensen Collection, Sydney

2009 Mosquito Man & Other Stories, Galleri Skylten, Stockholm

GROUP SHOWS:

2017 Nature Morte, Guildhall Art Gallery, London

2017 Nature Morte, National Museum Wroclaw, Poland

2016 Nature Morte, Bohuslans Museum, Sweden

2016 Hmmm, Berlin

2015 Q-park, London

2015 Nature Morte, Ha gamle Prestegard, Norway

2015 The Fall of the Rebel Angels, Venice 56

2015 Inspiration of Soane, London

2014 Art of Not Making, Bukowski, Stockholm

2013 The Get-Together, Gothenburg

2013 Big Deal No 5, London

2013 RA Summer Exhibition, London

2013 Open Plan - Strategies and Tactics, London

2012 Rock-paper-scissors, Galleria UNO + UNO, Rome

2012 Papercuts & Plaster, Dogliano, Italy

2012 A Question of Sport: LGBT artists and their relationship to inclusivity, Clifford Chance, London

2012 Touch of The Oracle, Michael Petry's Golden Rain Installation, Palm Springs Art Museum

2012ReImagine: Ourselves, Ukrainian Institute,New York

2011 Sagacity, Forman’s Smokehouse Gallery, London

2011 Supermarket, Stockholm

2010Crash Open, Charlie Dutton Gallery, London

2010 The Show, Sobreático, Barcelona Spain

2010 Inspired by Soane, Sir John Soane’s Museum, London

2010 La Perruque, Hackney Wicked, London

2010 Summer Screenings, Gallery Primo Alonso, London

2010 Salong Malongen, NKF, Stockholm

2009 Mosquito Man part of S&P Stanikas. Magda Goebbels, Vilnius

2009 Mosquito Man, Performance, LCC, London

2009 Don’t call us, We’ll call you, Islington Art Factory, London

2009 LGBT - Stonewall 40 Years On, Clifford Chance, London

2008 Golden Rain – by Michael Petry, ‘On the Edge’, Stavanger, Norway

2008 Cruelty, George Tavern, London

2005 Recent Graduate Show, The affordable Art Fair, London

2005 Graduate Show, Goldsmiths College,London

2004 SeeSaw, The Crypt, St Pancras Church, London

PERFORMANCES:

2015 Patient Zero, Artlyst, London

2014 Patient Zero, Sydney, London

2012Magnetic Man, T.R.I.A.L: Does Dark Matter!", Cosmicmegabrain, London

2011 The Mosquito Choir, Supermarket, Stockholm

2010 Patient Zero, This is Not a Gateway, London

2010 The Magnet Man, La Perruque, Hackney Wicked, London

2009The Mosquito Choir,Mosquito Man & Other Stories, Galleri Skylten, Stockholm

2001 The Lodgers, Lulu’s Living Room, Birmingham

2000 Happiness, Lulu’s Living Room, The Place Theatre, London

1999 The Lodgers, Lulu’s Living Room, Hanover

1998 The Lodgers, Lulu’s Living Room, Battersea Arts Centre, London

1998 The Lodgers, Lulu’s Living Room, Bloomsbury Theatre, London

1998 The Lodgers, Lulu’s Living Room, Greenwich Dance Agency, London

1998 The Lodgers, Lulu’s Living Room, ICA, London

1994 Roof of the World, Rubicon, Dance Company, Gothenburg

1994 Poseidon’s Dream, Kulturmaskinen, Gothenburg

RESIDENCIES:

2010 May - JulyNFK - Malongen Stockholm, Sweden

PUBLICATIONS:

Word is Art, Thames and Hudson, 2018

Mums Mums, 2015

Nature Morte, Thames & Hudson, 2013

Magnetic Man, A-N review Anna Ricciardi, 2013

Inspired By Soane, The John Soane’s Museum 2010

Le Cool Barcelona, review by Marta Bernal, October 2010

FAD, interview by Maxim Northover, 23 July 2010

QX.se, Interview by Anders Backlund, 01 December 2009

Mums, Sweden, 2009

Golden Rain, Michael Petry, 2008

COLLECTIONS:

Palm Springs Art Museum, USA

The Jensen collection, Australia

Private Collections, Internationally

GRANTS/AWARDS:

2010 Nordic Art Association (NKF), Stockholm. Residency

Written texts:

Absence, In Camera (No Exit), published by MOCA London, 2017, ISBN: 978-0-9955554-4-0,

What Hat Am I Wearing Today?, published by MOCA London, 2017, ISBN: 978-0-9955554-3-3

Transcending the Signified,published by MOCA London, 2017, ISBN: 978-0-9955554-1-9

Visibility of the Concealed, Rough to Smooth, 2017

Connubial/Immerse, 2017, ISBN 978-82-90929-43-0

Review, Winterreise: A Group Exhibition Exploring A Poem That Inspired Franz Schubert, Christine Park Gallery, Artlyst, 4 March 2015.

Curatorial Bio:

EKCO London:

Sweep~Landskip, Kinokino, Stavanger, 2018

Nature Morte, Guildhall Art Gallery, England, 2017

Nature Morte, National Museum Wroclaw,Poland, 2017

Rough to smooth, Freemasons, London 2017

Immerse, Kinokino, Stavanger, 2016

Connubial, Garborg Centre, Stavanger, 016

Hmmm, HilbertRaum,Berlin, 2016

Nature Morte, Bohuslans Museum, Sweden, 2016

Nature Morte, Ha Gamle Prestegard, Stavanger, 2015

EKCO Art Salon, London 2015

Art of Not Making, Bukowski, Sweden, 2014

Get-Together, Gothenburg, 2013

Sagacity, London 2011

MOCA London:

2018:

Helena Goldwater & Simon English, 2018

Sue Arrowsmith & Mathew Weir, 2018

Janne Malmrose, 2018

2017:

Guillaume Paris, In Camera (No Exit), 1 - 28 October

Paul Abbott and Alex Roberts, What Hat Am I Wearing Today?, 3 - 23 September

Ralph Dunn and Ryan Riddington, I Want To Be Your Dog, 9 - 29 July

Quilla Constance aka Jennifer Allen, Transcending the Signified, 11 June - 1 July

Guy Reid, Man Walking March 26 - April 29

What the Artist Saw: Art Inspired by the Life and Work of Joe Orton, 5 February - 4 March

2016

Janet Bellotto, Relation-Ships (Existence Doubtful), 2 - 31 October

Colin Booth, if not winter, 4 - 23 September

Francesca Pasquali, Spiderwall, 3 July - 30 July

Ana Genovés, AMBIANTA , May 15 - June 11

A Lovers Discord - Curated by Alana Lake, 14 March - 9 April

Annie Attridge, Could Of, Should Of, Would Of , January 31 - February 27

2015

Laurie Innes, Because They Can, 25 October – 19 November

Giedymin Jablonski, A Historical Survey, 27 September – 8 November

Asa Johannesson, Looking Out, Looking In, 4 – 13 September

Signed judge on The Art of Creativity's Awards in 2016, 2017 and 2018