Carl Johan De Geer
Baron Carl Johan Louis De Geer af Finspång (born July 13, 1938 in Montreal, Canada) is a Swedish artist, writer, musician and friherre (baron) of the De Geer noble family.
Carl Johan De Geer grew up in a castle in Skåne, in southern Sweden. He broke with his bourgeois background and became a leftist artist, and studied at Konstfack, University College of Art, Crafts and Design in Stockholm. He also exposed his grandmother's Nazi sympathies in a film called Mormor, Hitler och jag ("Grandmother, Hitler and I").
Most radical and provoking at that time was his 1967 painting of a burning Swedish Flag with the words KUKEN (COCK) and "Skända flaggan" (Desecrate the flag) written on it. The painting was shown in an art gallery, but was immediately confiscated by the police. Carl Johan De Geer has written a number of books and was also a member of the Swedish radical prog-band Blå Tåget. He has been married to the artist Marianne Lindberg de Geer, since 1987.
A Study in Unhuman Sexual Expectations
A Study in Unhuman Sexual Expectations is a Marianne Lindberg de Geer public art work located in the park Kungsträdgården in the City Centre of Stockholm. The statue was produced in 2006 and bought in 2009 by Stockholm konst.[1] The location of the sculpture in the city centre and in a passage zone between objects of touristic interest (The Royal Palace, The Museum of Modern Art) makes it a big attraction for the tourists.
The work consists of two polished granite rabbits, one standing, the other one fallen on the ground. The characters represented in the statue are a trademark signature of the artist, related works being placed in other cities in Sweden (Mate Hunting, Borås).
In an interview in connection to the choice of the rabbit as a central character in her artistic work, Marianne Lindberg de Geer affirmed that the origin is the rabbit in the story Alice in Wonderland, by Lewis Caroll. The artist developed the series of works by starting from the properties of this specific rabbit to facilitate the access to an imaginary world, combined with the common say about the sexual hyperactivity of the rabbits, in order to address questions about the human nature.
− A Study in Unhuman Sexual Expectations is an example of how the title recontextualizes the sculpture in Marianne Lindberg de Geer’s work. The sculpture, with a 1.33 m height, installed in a park, is at first glance one that addresses the very young audience, being often approached by children and used as a playground.
Both adults and children have had a relation to the piece since its installation in 2009: many attempts to bring the fallen down rabbit to a sitting position have been made, the visitors trying to make the rabbits stay side by side.[2]
References
- ^ Stockholm konst website http://www.stockholmkonst.se/konsten/konstprojekt/a-study-in-unhuman-sexual-expectations-lindberg-de
- ^ Dagens Nyheter news http://www.dn.se/kultur-noje/konst-form/kaninskulptur-stop-pa-orat-i-yran%5C
External links
- Marianne Lindberg de Geer's website
- Sinziana Ravini: Marianne Lindberg De Geer och kritiken (Dunkers kulturhus, 2010)
