 Johanna Billing You Don't Love Me Yet Vedanta Gallery is pleased to present the first solo exhibition of Johanna Billing in the U.S. and the final destination of the film and live tour "You Don't Love Me Yet" which has traveled to various institutions in Sweden including Index: The Swedish Contemporary Art Foundation where it originated and at the Frieze Art Fair in London. The opening event will include live performances by local Chicago musicians performing the song "You Don't Love Me Yet" written by American singer-songwriter Roky Erickson. Also exhibited will be a video of the recording of the song at Atlantis Studios in Stockholm by various Swedish musicians. In both a hopeful and disillusioned way, the song points out the difficulty of being in a relationship and daring to lose control of oneself. Johanna Billing's film and live music project "You Don't Love Me Yet" is a bittersweet convergence between the individual and the audience whose catalyst is the 80's pop song, "You Don't Love Me Yet" by Roky Erickson. The project commenced in October 2002 including more than twenty participating singers, soloists and bands. Roky Erickson's song was covered again and again, repeated in a wide variety of interpretations each reflecting the participants' own personal style. One performance was followed by another in what increasingly came to resemble a tragi-comic, manic litany about the social demands that weigh heavily on people; for instance the concept of self-fulfillment, or the hazards of entering a relationship with someone and therefore daring to let go. Despite the disillusioned tone of the song, a feeling of trust and hope is discernible between the lines. The project's second part, Johanna Billing's film "You Don't Love Me Yet", produced in June 2003, again invited a group of participants only this time the individual performance is replaced by a collective effort at Atlantis recording studios at Karlbergsvägen in Stockholm, where both a film and audio recording took place. The film lies somewhere between a music video and a documentary, with the emphasis on the common performance by the many protagonists: musicians; singers; music engineers and film photographers. This film was screened at six different locations in Sweden in collaboration with art institutions who have also acted as co-producers. The project also includes an audio CD containing the recorded song, which will be distributed free of charge at each event. Johanna Billing was born in 1973 and lives and works in Stockholm, Sweden. Selected solo exhibitions include Index, Stockholm; "Milch" at Gainsborough Studios, London; Bild Museet, Umea; Moderna Museet, Oslo; and has participated in group exhibitions including "Peripheries Become the Center", Prague Biennale 1; "Delays and Revolutions", Venice Biennale, Italian Pavilion, Venice; and is included in "Cream 3" published by Phaidon. Johanna Billing was also recently featured in the March issue of Frieze Magazine. The film "You Don't Love Me Yet" is produced by Index in collaboration with Nifca, Helsinki. Co-producers and collaborative partners for the film and tour are Eskilstuna's Konstmuseum (with Balsta Musikslott), Norrköpings Konstmuseum (with Allmän Kultur, Norrköping), Konstkonsulenten in Jämtlandslän (with Mångkulturkonsulenten and UKM), Konstkonsulenten in Västra Götalandsregionen (with Vara Kommun), Gävle Konstcentrum (with Musikhuset and Kultur och Fritid) and Ystad Konstmuseum. Musical performances by: The Godscends - Steve Krakow and Ben Pirani Rebecca Gates The Lay All Over Its - Jason Ajemian and Nori Tanaka John Klos and Liam Hayes Mikael Jorgenson and Glenn Kotche Adam Scott with Dawn Reed and Carl Warnick The Royal We - Kevin Schuhl Miles Raymer Josephine Foster The Bitter Tears Exhibition: April 29 - June 4, 2004 Gallery hours: Tue-Fri, 10am - 6pm, Sat, 11am - 5pm Vedanta Gallery 835 West Washington USA-Chicago IL 60607 Telephone +1 312 432.0708 Fax +1 312 432.0709 Email info@vedantagallery.com www.vedantagallery.com |
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