Ragnar Persson
Till detta bröllop kommer bara fåglar och döda hästar
18.09—17.10.15

”A YOUNG MAN’S DREAMS, FANTASIES, DESIRES AND FEARS FROM GROWING UP IN A SPARESELY POPULATED AREA. BUT ABOVE ALL; IMAGES CREATED BY A YOUNG ARTIST WITH AN ABSOLUTE AWARENESS OF ANGER, SADNESS, FEAR, CRUELTY AND REVOLT THAT PERMEATE OUR OF APOCALYPSE SMUTTY WORLD.”

– LARS O ERICSSON

“Till detta bröllop kommer bara fåglar och döda hästar” (Only birds and dead horses are coming to this wedding) ​is Ragnar Persson’s fourth solo exhibition at Gallery Steinsland Berliner. The exhibition reflects an intimate space out of the ordinary. Alienation and the feeling that nobody understands are recurrent undertones in Ragnar’s work. The subversive darkness is opposed by a liberating light. Ragnar manages to recreate an overwhelming visual world that distinguish a loving, human tenderness with a sometimes dark, ambivalent melancholy. Influences from metal and punk culture are mixed with nature and a teenager’s reinforced, bitter feelings. The pronounced portrayal of young girls in dark forest environments, detailed observations of nature and heavy metal symbols are characterised in a spontaneous combination of flaws and skills. The forest is repeteatedly represented in Ragnar’s works as a free zone without any contradictions between the closed and th e limited; a hidden hideaway full of fantasy and reality. Ragnar is above all a drawing artist but he also uses techniques such as collage, color and photographs. New sculptures will be introduced at the exhibition which creates a new dimension between the works and the characters. The collection of poems with the same title written by Joar Tiberg will be published apropos of the exhibition by the Swedish publisher Orosdi Back. Joar Tiberg’s poems are inspired by Ragnar’s images, which in turn are inspired by Joar’s poems.

Ragnar Persson is born 1980 in Tavelsjö and graduated from Konstfack in 2007. He is based in Stockholm. Before Ragnar’s first book ​Sarcogafo​ with Johan Nordbeck’s poems was published in 2005, Ragnar had as an apprentice of the DIY concept self-published numerous fanzines. In 2010, Ragnar’s book ​Feel the darkness​ was released which opened up his works for a wider audience.