With ULTRA, David von Bahr picks up where he left off. If his previous exhibition was characterized by cognitive passages, his new work explores unplannedness along with an inquiry into the reality of layering.
The leitmotif comprises a kind of automatic, intuitive randomness where the paintings construct themselves. Some of these are created by means of penetration of a spray can. Using a sharp object to inflict piercing damage, the operation creates a shapeless entry/exit hole. Instantly, spray colour gushes violently like a spring flood as von Bahr applies it to the canvas. The procedure is over in a few seconds. Intensity forbids thought and intuition is the sovereign of motion. The fast and energetic manoeuvres attach to the canvas like a frozen moment, and they are the ones that de facto constitute the motive.
This performance presupposes that von Bahr lets go and loses control, while maintaining a firm grasp of the spray can. In the encounter with the works the viewer will be confronted with the aesthesis of this painterly drama where the aerosol has dissipated, and like a spirit has vaporized from the scene of the colouristic deed.
David von Bahr (b. 1992, SE) graduated from Konstfack University of Arts, Crafts & Design in 2019. Von Bahr lives and works in Stockholm and plays an active part in the city's creative scene through collaborations with contemporaries in the fields of music and art. Following a number of international showings, ULTRA marks the artist's return to Stockholm and is his second solo exhibition with Steinsland Berliner.
