A K Dolven

A K Dolven’s work presents scenes of everyday life. She creates a staged ordinariness that shows us that nothing in life is ordinary: an old lady gets into bed in a girl’s room to the sound of contemporary pop, a young man feeds another young man at a family meal. The people are not actors, but friends, family and neighbours.

Dolven is a keen observer of the cultural markers we choose to adopt and the traces we leave behind. These traces, regardless of age and where we reside, connect us to an urban culture that places us in a particular moment. In her films, videos, installations and photographs, timeless icons are catapulted into contemporary settings, while objects, clothing and music leave an imprint of contemporary life in ‘timeless’ landscapes: The image of Madonna and Child transmutates in a contemporary office, a handbag or a necklace may disrupt an idealised arctic, the sounds of drum ‘n bass resonate from another room.

The sense of suspended time is also evident in Dolven’s paintings. She has been exploring the possibility of white painting since 1989 and continues to develop them alongside other works.

Recent exhibitions include:

the day the sky became my ground, Wilkinson Gallery, London, UK, 2010. Group exhibitions There is no Road, LABoral Centro de Arte, Gijón, Spain, 2009, One Hundred Years, Kunstnerforbundet, Oslo, Norway, 2009 and GSK Contemporary at the Royal Academy, London, 2009.