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.
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