20th January to 26th February 2012
Wilkinson Gallery is to present its first solo exhibition with Swedish artist Ilja Karilampi.
Bijlmer is a large suburban housing project in the outskirts of Amsterdam, Netherlands. Built in the 1970’s, its intended purpose – as modern suburbia and residence to middle class families – failed. The relatively low incomes and social status of its inhabitants made for a problematic relationship with the area’s large-scale buildings, which afforded little social control. In early 2011, Karilampi travelled to Bijlmer to compare the area with Studiegången, a similar, though much smaller neighbourhood in eastern Göteborg, where the artist grew up. Multi-storey buildings, long narrow corridors and a very certain suburban banality are some of the attributes the two ‘projects’ have in common today.
The artist works with an alteration of the documentary format; a symbiosis of hood and documentary, an attempt to develop a new genre, the ‘hoodumentary’. Animated logotypes, his own soundtrack and aesthetics that draw inspiration from the world of Hip Hop and R’n’B and also references to contemporary internet culture are all part of the artist’s output. Ilja Karilampi’s impressions are joined together in this video piece h00dumentary, a 22 minute essayistic collage of found footage, researched material and animated graphics. A short film with guns and one pair of sunglasses, made by the artist at the age of 12 at Studiegången, is also incorporated in ‘hoodumentary’s’ somewhat drifting picture.
Ilja Karilampi was born in 1983 in Gothenburg, Sweden and lives and works between Gothenburg, Berlin and New York. Recent solo exhibitions include ‘h00dumentary’ at Sandy Brown, Berlin (2011); Centrum Beeldende Kunst Zuidoost, Amsterdam (2011), ‘White Magic Nemo Web’ at Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt (2009) and ‘The Chief Architect of Gangsta Rap’, Royal Institute of Art, Stockholm (2009). Recent group exhibitions include ‘Benefizauktion’ at Neuer Aachener Kunstverein, Aachen (2011), ‘History as an Object, Artists Film and Video’ at DCA, Dundee (2011). Recent screenings include ‘The Chief Architect of Gangsta Rap’ at the Nordic Pavillion, Architecture Biennale, Venice (2010) and ‘21st Century’ at Chisenhale Gallery, London (2010).
