PER TELJER (SE/NO)
Text written by GHA
Swedish-Norwegian artist Per Teljer explores a range of artistic mediums, but primarily creates black/white drawings and recently prints in various formats. Combining dark humour and a crude realism, the works depict human despair, exhaustion and self-destruction.
Using charcoal and acrylic as main materials, the drawings gain intensity and, in relation to the motifs, an almost morbid elegance in the saturated shades and the soft mastery of light and darkness. This meeting between the clear, controlled style and the unforgiving motifs, insisting on tragedy and isolation as parts of human life, creates a grotesque tension and paves the way for an absurd nihilism. At the same time, however, a characteristic dark humour arises and remains inseparable from Teljer’s corrosive dissection of human despair and stupidity.
The characters at times seem almost uncompromisingly eager to accelerate their own downfall. Hence, the motifs frequently show people with distorted faces bent over shots and cigarettes or occupied with similar self-destructive pastimes in pointless vandalism. The compositions are often set in close-up perspectives and constructed as portraits, but instead of following the genres’ classic attempt to isolate and depict the distinctive features of individuals, Teljer’s portraits of helpless existences are caricatured and seem to express generic states of disintegration, often performed with a peculiar self-assurance. Thus, the characters become representative of various human conditions and lives that unfold in the shadows of our culture – far from the tales we prefer to tell.
Pivotal to Teljer’s dark, at times even brutal, universe is this equally caricatured and stern expression that occurs when cartoonish elements meet a grave realism to culminate in a striking, tragicomical ambivalence. Lately, he has continued to work with these signature tensions and motifs of depraved outsiders, but in a new medium by exploring the graphic technique of lithography for the first time. In this new series of prints the context is – if possible – even sparser as scenes of anger and drunkenness unfold in a more sketchy and raw style to once again leave strong portraits of isolated states and conditions. Per Teljer’s work, thereby, explores new territory and reaches out for a wider audience, but continues to report from the shadows and to show how we look when no one is looking.
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Delirium tremens Be prepared
Teljer and Hjort (SE/NO)
Swedish artist Teljer and Norwegian actor Hjort have teamed up to produce a thought-provoking and emotional video entitled “MAMMA”. Using intimate close-ups of a person’s face, the video captures deep-rooted universal emotional dynamics and the connections between one’s inner child and primal instincts. With this approach, it transcends cultural boundaries and relates to a common human experience.
Compared to Teljer’s previous works, which often depicted dark scenes in a cartoonish style, this collaborative videography represents a shift towards a more introspective and emotionally dynamic narrative. The depiction of raw emotion in this video is a harrowing experience that demands the viewer’s full attention. The static black-and-white camera angles cast a relentless spotlight on the actor’s emotional turmoil, leaving no room for visual escape. Viewers are thus forced to confront the rawness of every emotion and engange in a thought-provoking exploration of the human experience. Through the exploration of a single word, Teljer & Hjort create a universally relatable and deeply moving narrative that resonates across cultural and personal boundaries.
Teljer and Hjort’s collaboration brings a powerful and relatable story to life through the simple yet powerful word ‘MAMMA’. This emotional journey transcends cultural and personal boundaries, speaking to the universal human desires and longings that we all share.
