Annika Larsson at Andrea Rosen - Brief Article

Art in America, June, 2002 by Roni Feinstein

Two provocative 16-minute video projections by Annika Larsson, a Stockholm-born, Berlin-based artist, constituted her first U.S. solo. (Both were concurrently shown at London's ICA.) All Larsson's videos since 1998 have investigated interactions among men, with particular focus upon power. In Inbjudan Till Herr B (1998), for example, a man invites four others to a party and forces them to dance before him; in Cigar (1999), one man watches another smoke; and in 40-15 (1999), two men simulate a game of tennis in front of a bedroom mirror.

In Dog (2001), the earlier of the works shown here, two men in business suits stand together silently, silhouetted against a gray sky. One is older, better dressed and in control, both of the younger man and of the large dog on a silver chain he holds in his leather-gloved hands. A seduction is conveyed through the camera's meticulous recording, often in extreme close-up, of such movements and details as shifting eyes or parting lips. Cliches of erotic suggestion abound, the camera's focus (and vantage point) most often being below the men's waists. The pace is slow; anticipation builds and yet when the music rises to a crescendo and a climax of sorts is reached, the sensation is not one of release but of devastating emptiness.

Poliisi (2002) takes place under the cover of darkness. Here Larsson subtly conflates political content with Christian symbolism. The video opens with the word poliisi emblazoned across the back of a policeman's leather jacket. Inside an unmarked white van, a blond man in a yellow jacket, white pants, beige kneepads and high black boots allows a policeman to put a mask, presumably drugged, over his nose and mouth. Soon unconscious, the figure is laid out on the ground of a public square where a heroic statue can be seen and a cathedral looms behind. Three black-clad policemen circle him as a march plays, giving way to other music with a pulsing, heavily percussive beat. (The music for both videos was arranged by the Swedish multimedia and performance artist Tobias Bernstrup.) Although the scene takes place in the open air, it is pervaded by a sense of claustrophobia. At last the man wakes, raising one white-gloved hand in greeting; the police lead him on his knees back to the waiting van.

On one level, this video investigates good and evil (conventionally symbolized by white and black), submission and domination. On another level, like Larsson's other works, it speaks of the power of the artist. Given her preoccupation with voyeurism and surface appearances and the sense of waiting and stillness that pervades her work, it's no surprise to learn that she once worked for Vanessa Beecroft. She extends Beecroft's investigations of social roles and types into richly conceived, symbol-laden, dreamlike narratives. Particularly intriguing is her focus on interactions--without any real communication--among an entirely male cast. This was an arresting debut, for the 30-year-old artist.