DAWID. Rost

Opening March 3, 6-9 pm
Lindenstrasse 34, Berlin, Germany

“Of how many photographers can it truly be said that they have extended and altered the concept of photography? […] From an international perspective, this exclusive group would have to include the artist and photographer, Dawid. In the history of late 20th century photography, which is now being written […] this exceptional discoverer of the possibilities and limits of photography is assigned an important place. Important details, or more importantly, what most of us belittle as trivialities, are at the heart of Dawid’s oeuvre […]” (Lars O. Ericsson)

Grundemark Nilsson Gallery will be showing a number of photographs from the legendary series Rost by the Swedish artist DAWID (Björn Dawidsson, b. 1949). They were first shown at the Moderna Muséet, Stockholm in 1983 and changed the Swedish photography scene for ever.

Rost, which consisted of large format photographs on silver gelatin paper, created a new, revolutionary expression and sparked a lively debate within the art scene at the time. Viewers found these shadow-less, rusting objects, in front of a white background, both appealing and disquieting.

The deceptive simplicity of the Rost series surprises and mystifies. Thoughts concerning the actual image content continue beyond the first deciphering of the image; indeed a further voyage of discovery through the subjective visual memory begins. There exist fine distinctions within the motive’s apparently graphic expression which only become evident on closer inspection. DAWID presents the viewer with his definitive interpretation of the photographic medium and, beyond that, invites reflection on the subjective visual/viewing experience. With this work he articulated his own photographic-artistic mode of expression and enabled many young photographers who followed him to find a new way of accessing the world.

The exhibition previously formed part of a large retrospective exhibition in Liljevalchs Konsthall (Stockholm, Sweden) and a solo in Riga Art Space (Riga, Latvia). An expansion of Rost, the Suite M+M, was shown at the Folkwang Museum (Essen, Germany) in 1993, curated by Ute Eskildsen. DAWID has conceived Rost as a comprehensive work of art which is why, for instance, the blood red colour has such a key role in the frames, publications and exhibition posters. As well as producing the prints, the artist makes all the unique frames himself.

Rost was conceived as an open series: DAWID reserves the right to extend it as appropriate.

The Pace / MacGill Gallery exhibited DAWID’s Arbetsnamn Skulptur (Working Title Sculpture) in 2015 in New York as part of the exhibition “Callahan, Dawid, Sugimoto”; alongside which a book by Steidl Verlag. This shows clearly how these three significant and apparently disparate photographers developed and decisively influenced the aesthetic, technical and conceptual potential of photography as a medium.