Ragnar Persson – När mörkret faller

February 14, 2011

Artist Ragnar Persson was born 29 years ago in Tavelsjö, a village of outside Umeå in northern Sweden. Today he lives and works in Stockholm, where he also graduated from Konstfack (Sweden’s largest university of arts) in 2007.
Like any skillful artist, Persson has an ability to affect and arouse the viewer, and, figuratively speaking, bring them someplace else. In this case – back to emo day of teen years.

Persson’s artwork forms a webbing of skulls, animals, and the occasional idol at the current exhibition wall at Kulturhuset, a cultural and art center located in downtown Stockhlm. It’s all quite rough, yet, tender. The pieces of scotch, still stuck in the corners of some of the illustrations, brings a whole lotta authenticity to his work. And that Persson’s heart belongs to the DIY-movement (he’s also a zine-maker amongst other things) is palpable. An ambiguous feeling of nostalgia grips you; it’s beautiful, bizarre, humorous, and weird. Just like those years.

There’s a quote by the artist that reads:
“When I was 14, I didn’t even understand that I was making art, but was just trying to copy what I liked. Like the punk group Black Flags detailed album cover, or by drawing the Metallica logo. “
A modest reflection over a complex matter, known as art.

The exhibition När mörkret faller (When darkness falls) is on display at Kulturhuset in Stockholm, January 29 – March 27. Free admission.
Ragnar Persson was The Swede Beat’s artist of the month in issue #20: Swedish Melancholia

By Elena Tillman Sperandio

Published by: The Swede Beat