Grimacing cowboy busts, posing muscle men, daydreaming women, colorful blobs and logs . . . lots of Swedish logs, are all things John Rasimus considers clichés and saturates his picture planes with. Most are crisp, roughly drawn, and created in almost every conceivable medium including public art, films/video, printmaking, painting, and drawing.
This type of low-fi, playful, and loose somewhat cartoon like approach can be seen in central Texas cites such as San Marcos (comic/art publication Proper Gander), Austin (okay mountain) and San Antonio (Unit B), a sort of Raymond Pettibon/Mike Kelly quality rawness. Rasimus’s creations meet and exceed that psychic angst in their extremely subverted, edgy, weird and usually darkly humored tones. Dog Thoughts is a small pen and colored pencil drawing of a boxer dog clutched by a blonde woman while the dog daydreams of loving from a brunette. And included in the imagery used for a huge 6ft x 30ft scroll like piece shown during Open Art in Orebro Sweden (2008), is a small girl with head in hands and a disembodied hand pointing at the butt of a bent over and smiling man plopping out Swedish logs.
John is an internationally showing artist living in Falun, Sweden. In 2007 John received a two-year working grant from The Swedish Arts Grants Committee. allowing him the luxury of being paid by the Swedish government to work as a full time artist. Recently completed projects include large-scale public glass works at the entrance to Falu-Lasarett, a Swedish hospital (2009); he was recently a curator for the Konst Film Video Seminary, Falun, Sweden (2008); and shows include International Drawing Triennial Manu Propia (The Northern Wind), Tallin, Sweden (2009); Works on Paper, Flux Factory, New York (2007); Dialogues: Biennial of Modern Art, St. Petersburg, Russia (2006).
www.examiner.com/x-18642-Fort-Worth-Contemporary-Art-Examiner~y2009m8d4-Cowboys-with-big-Swedish-logs-Interview-with-Swedish-artist-John-Rasimus
John Rasimus
Embracing darkness and loving our dreams
TAMIU (Texas A&M International University) in Laredo
Oct. 15 – Nov 27
Opening reception Oct. 15 5-7:30 pm
www.rasimus.se/
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