Walking with myself, walking with you – Alice Máselníková and Juanma González – 25 September–11 October 2020

AllArtNowLab meets Flat Octopus
Walking with myself, walking with you
Exhibition by Alice Máselníková and Juanma González
25 September – 11 October 2020
Curated by Abir Boukhari

Location: AllArtNow Lab, Älvkarleövägen 6, (Ropsten t-bana – access Hjorthagen)
25 September–11 October 2020
Vernissage Friday 25 September 17.00–21.00
Opening hours hours on Saturdays 13.00–19.00 and by appointment

FACEBOOK EVENT

AllArtNow invites Flat Octopus for an exhibition at AllArtNow’s temporary space in Stockholm. Both entities are taking the format of a nomadic space as a way of being. AllArtNow turned nomadic in 2012 because of the Syrian war, while Flat Octopus appropriated nomadic exhibitions in apartments as a part of their main concept.
In the recent decades, many spaces turned into mobile versions as a lifestyle or a way to be able to exist. Similarly, many people find themselves modern nomads who do not fit an existing schema and refuse to be categorised or to follow a system that seems to be about to collapse. Thus, the idea of freedom has expanded into a fluid form.
In this exhibition, we host two artists from Flat Octopus, Alice Máselníková and Juanma González.

Alice Máselníková
I work with life models and the human body in various forms. I often engage the models in individual sessions of one-to-one encounters that bring an element of accidental intimacy and in-depth conversations. Sometimes, those dialogues that we carry are symbolically depicted in the finished work. Themes that I have been exploring in the past years are namely the body under pressure, physical or mental. I have been playing with shortcuts of the body and compression of both the flesh and spirit, depicting the figure in its fragile state of being, often unaware of the stare, or posing for it brazenly.
The paintings and drawings shown in this exhibition deal with the subject of how the body and the mind are affected by chronic pain; a topic both personal and existentially curious: Can you ever truly feel the inside of another person? The works from the series vary between very bodily and physical, and more conceptual, influenced by emotional states. This reflects the dual state of the body feeling and becoming something vile and brutal when subject to pain, whilst at the same time being aware of the sublime beauty of suffering or pain being inflicted.

Juanma González
I am a pilgrim and an artist. I walk as a method for making art. When I can not go out on a walk, I draw.
White paper becomes the territory for exploring. My mind begins to wander in a landscape where the thinking flows. Nomadic thoughts navigate freely on an imaginary-woven territory. The wandering leads to me far into the realm of ideas and feelings. Memories carry me to places out of time and space, where the origin of our being is.
I draw. I draw for leaving a trace of my journey.
I see the map as a writer who confronts the empty page.
I cross lines on the map as a painter who dabs brush strokes on the canvas.
I go through the space with a sculptor’s perspective.
Following the steps of our ancestors, I invite you to walk together and explore our place in the world.
During part of the coronavirus situation, I was staying with my family in Spain where we were not allowed to go out. Drawing becomes a way to make a journey beyond the walls and to keep the mind wandering.

BIOGRAPHY
Alice Máselníková (born 1989 in Zlín, Czech republic) is a visual artist and curator based in Stockholm, Sweden. She holds a BA (Hons) in Fine Art and Philosophy from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Arts and Design, UK, and an MA in Curating Art from Stockholm University, Sweden. She studied Bellas Artes at Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain, and took an external theory course at the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm. She works predominantly in oil paint as well as in watercolour and ink. Her focus is on working with life models and the human body in various forms. She has exhibited around Europe and in Russia.
Máselníková is one of the three creative directors of Supermarket – Stockholm Independent Art Fair, project leader of Artist-Run Network Europe, the founder of Flat Octopus, coordinator of AIM Network and co-organiser of PALS. In parallel she works as editor and freelance cultural funding and project consultant.

Juanma González (born 1977 in Madrid, Spain) lives and works in Alby, Sweden. He graduated with an MFA from the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm in 2016. He also holds a BA in Media from Universidad Europea de Madrid, 1999. Currently he is a PhD Candidate at Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Through developing projects in Sweden, Finland, Norway and Spain for the last five years, Juanma has been studying and using pilgrimage as contemporary phenomena and participatory framework. His research work has continued throughout his postgraduate education: ‘Research_LAB’ at KKH (2017), ‘Sites and Situations’ at Konstfack (2018) and ‘Site and Participants’ at the Stockholm Academy of Dramatic Arts (2019). ‘Urban Fabric’ is a series of drawings that started in 2018. Parts of this series have been exhibited at Botkyrka Konsthall (Fittja), WIP:sthlm (Stockholm) and EKS-rummet (Copenhagen).

AllArtNow was established in 2005 as the first independent collective space for contemporary art in Damascus. It became a hub for emerging artistic practices. At the end of 2012, AllArtNow started to act as a nomadic space and has been invited to various institutions around the world. In 2019 we entered a new phase and established a temporary space in Stockholm.

PHOTO DOCUMENTATION