Supermarket blog

Storm And Drunk (S.A.D.) from Madrid is an experimental art space run by artist Raisa Maudit with focus on trans-disciplinary, experimental, immersive, punk-queer and playful dialogues within contemporary artistic practices. At Supermarket 2018 their exhibition booth will act as a comfortable bubble where you can dig into the works of artists Raquel G. Ibañez, Andrés Senra and Mar Reykjavic, as well as read publications by S.A.D and various artists – all reflecting the spirit of Storm And Drunk.

What can we look forward to seeing in your exhibition stand at Supermarket 2018?

Our stand will be a small extension of what S.A.D is: a place for subversive, experimental, punk-queer, playful, and hybrid dialogues within contemporary artistic practices. We will show works that have been, are going to be, or are still just possibilities in Storm And Drunk, and that reflect S.A.D's interests as a project. Through the works of Andres Senra, Mar Reykjavic, and Raquel G. Ibañez we are going to explore the relation of the body as a space of political research with artworks that unfold and surround the practices of performance: from sexuality, sports, failure, and technology. Also we present a section where the public can read, watch and enjoy different publications of artists or catalogues and paper-interventions we’ve made during the projects we have hosted in our Madrid-based place. For example we will present ‘Let's get real here’, which is the result of a one year programme of exhibitions, performances, and encounters about failure and the power of the concept of loss and of the success-centered culture. There will also be more information on some of the projects to be seen in the stand. Finally, we are going to use the space provided by the stand as a meeting point for artists, collectives and art spaces from Stockholm, so there will be surprises!

If you could put one thing related to your gallery in a box and store it for eternity, what would it be?

This is a difficult question, because S.A.D’s own statement is about not being eternal; it is about trying to stay and feel comfortable in its instability, so maybe eternity is a concept that is too far from us. What I want S.A.D to become is eternal in its constant ability to change and transform; to be the possibility not the result. It’s some kind of a teen point of view. In fact, in our first manifesto when we opened our doors for the first time we said: “S.A.D wants to be a wise teenager forever.” So, having that in mind, maybe if I had to put something in a box related to Storm And Drunk it would be rests of glitter and feathers – in an attempt to capture that feeling when you are at a party you know is going to end eventually, but you refuse to believe it and you try to get used to the nostalgia before it actually sets in. A little bit like Brian Eno’s “Some of them are old”: People come and go and forget to close the door, and they leave their stains and cigarette butts trampled on the floor, and when they do, remember me, remember me.

What do you see as the biggest asset of being a non-governmental artist-run art space? What are the downsides?

The freedom in capital letters. You can experiment and try things that are not possible in established art institutions and spaces. There is something really important about making art that signifies freedom, the liberty to have no boundaries, to try things and forms that can fail but with just the intention to do it is in the end a winning concept. When you run an independent art space and you are an artist it is more about art than when you are another kind of art figure; the risks are different so the possibilities are different too. It’s like trying to create something from every point of view possible. The downsides are the precariousness, the tiredness and the unfortunate fact that a day only has 24 hours. So there are many personal sacrifices and it is very easy to end up in unhealthy spirals of work and production due the overdose of enthusiasm.

We like your name very much! Can you explain its origin? We googled it in Spanish [storm and drunk = tormenta y borracho] and came across this gem ‘El Borracho’ by Tormenta Norteña. Is there a connection? ‘El Borracho’ by Tormenta Norteña on Youtube  

Our name is really important for S.A.D’s identity, statement and political position. Storm And Drunk is a reinterpretation of Sturm und Drang (‘storm and urge’, ‘storm and drive’ or ‘storm and stress’, in English translates to ‘strength and drive’), an artistic movement emerged in the heart of the Industrial Revolution in Germany, which, by claiming the importance of subjectivity, extremes of emotion and the exaltation of an unbridled experience against Enlightenment rationalism and academicism, became the prelude to the Romantic Movement. Its essence can be interpreted as the rebellious response of a generation that no longer identified itself with certain hypocritical cultural values. They took its name from Friedrich Maximilian Klinger’s play Sturm und Drang, so we took the name too. S.A.D wants to reinstate this nonconformist and transforming attitude, subjecting it in an ironic way to a political questioning that we intend to apply to our practice as a vital concept of running away from static positions and taboo postulates. I wasn't familiar with the song but I think it is pretty accurate in essence, from the name, the music, to the aesthetics. 

Supermarket – Stockholm Independent Art Fair is just a month away. During the four days on 12–15 April we will turn our new venue Slaughterhouse 5 into a creative hub of live events and performances. We bring back the popular public seminar programme of TALKS and for the first time introduce the Supermarket Performance Art Centre with an extended range of on- and off-stage performances by Swedish and international performance artists.

Here are some of the highlights of the performance programme:

The artist-run collective Istanbul Performance Art, features a line-up of established and emerging artists, including Gustaf Broms, Mustafa Boğa and Roi Vaara who will be broadcasting with his endlessly swinging microphone. We will also see a performance by the group’s founder Pınar Derin Gençer – ‘You Are Not Lost You Are Here’, depicting the human need for belonging and security after being born and cut off from the umbilical cord.

Vili Nissinen’s ‘Art Must Be Fabulous – Artist Must be Fabulous’ is performed by the artist's stage persona, Anita Bangs. She is an eccentric character who sees the world through queer lenses, and with a punk twist restages the classic performances of Marina Abramovic, transforming her work from serious to burlesque.

‘Icarustic’ is a performance piece by Hungarian artist István Kovács that questions the nature of desire and the inevitability of failure. 

The Swedish performance duo Knölkollektivet will search the uncomfortable aspects of human communication and relationships on the stage and around the whole venue.

‘We are already standing in the ruins’ is a short performance by Johan Sandås marking the tenth anniversary of the downfall of western industrial civilisation – the 2008 financial crisis. Masks and artifacts are used to raise important questions about where the humanity is heading. What would happen if instead of desperately trying to save the ruins, we put our resources to finding other solutions?

As every year, Supermarket TALKS introduces a series of topics relevant for the contemporary art sector. Connecting the feminist point of view to this year's theme of LEGACY, the Canadian artist Erica Mendritzki brings a performative lecture ‘Let me talk to you man two man’ that looks back to the patriarchal history of art. The lecture will be followed by a conversation between Mendritzki and Magdalena Blom, a Stockholm-based artist and director of feminist Gallery Majkens. They will discuss feminist movements in Sweden and Canada and strategies to address gender disparity in the art world.

Iaspis in collaboration with the Forum for Living History and AIM Network present a seminar on the political situation in Central Europe. Four artist representatives of the Visegrád (V4) countries – Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary – will discuss the cultural and political landscape in the light of recent populistic tendencies across Europe and as influencing the artist-run art sector.

In recent years, artists have been commissioned according to cultural policies to produce art for public spaces in a more extensive nature than before. As part of the TALKS programme Konstfrämjandet will show examples of public art initiatives and urban planning with focus on the development of the artists’ role in public projects, and possible constraints such as instrumentalisation and trivialisation of artistic practices.

Also returning to Supermarket this year are the ‘Art shots’, a series of presentations in a ‘pecha kucha’ format. One speaker, ten images, and only ten minutes to deliver the presentation, you will hear, see and discuss the best on offer from the contemporary artist-run projects. For this year we have secured the participation of Photoport (SK), Artist-Run Alliance (IL), Lateral Art Space (RO), Storm & Drunk (ES), 14+ Artists (TZ) and Galerie SAW Gallery (CA).

This and much more you can look forward to at Supermarket 2018. The full programme for TALKS and Performance will be published on our website www.supermarketartfair.com by the end of March. We hope to see you there! 

Paleis van Mieris is an Amsterdam-based artist-run initiative. Shortly after its members graduated from the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in 2014, they had the opportunity to use a 4000 m2 building as a temporary working space, organising members group exhibitions and events and introducing guest artists. To Paleis van Mieris it is important to combine the development of their own individual art practices with the encounters, and conversations they conduct; to learn and establish new connections.

With just a little over a month until the next edition of Supermarket, we decided to include Paleis van Mieris in our Q&A series to find out what they plan to show at Supermarket 2018. 

What can we look forward to seeing in your exhibition stand at Supermarket 2018? 

'Bits & Pieces Put Together to Present a Semblance of a Whole', a work/statement by Lawrence Weiner that sums it all up. Starting as a 'Gesamtkunstwerk' our presentation booth will not only come together as a whole, but it will encompass new and old work according to each of the individual artist's own approach to the practice.

If you could put one thing related to your gallery in a box and store it for eternity, what would it be?

Our sweat and tears in a vial.

What do you see as the biggest asset of being a non-governmental artist-run art space? What are the downsides?

The rhythm of working. We decide what and when, who and how. The downsides are many, from funding to exposure, but they cannot top the rhythm.

You started in 2014 and have since organised a number of exhibitions and projects. What was the highlight of these past years for you?

It might sound brave to say that each and every project mattered equally, but for us as a collective, it really is like that. Our work discipline varies greatly from one project to another, with participating artists being involved to a certain degree, working with or without a budget, involving many external artists or none whatsoever, or building up an exhibition with the help of a working team and outsourced materials or only as a one-man effort. Examples of our many and diverse projects are the theme park ‘Danteland’, a one-month project ‘Shift Operation’,’Minigolf’, and Nook’, which was a solo exhibition space within Paleis van Mieris, to name a few. 

Today SUPERMARKET 2018 – Stockholm Independent Art Fair announces the full list of exhibiting artist-run galleries selected to participate this year.

SUPERMARKET 2018 shows 53 artist-run initiatives from 41 cities around the world during 12–15 April 2018. In total more than 150 artists exhibit.

Artist-run spaces from Europe and Scandinavia will be represented alongside initiatives from Georgia, Iran, South Africa, Canada, and the USA. For the first time the art fair hosts exhibitors from Slovakia, HotDock Project Space and Photoport, and from Luxembourg, represented by the Musel Link association. SUPERMARKET 2018 is proud to showcase three Russian initiatives this year – Elektrozavod from Moscow, Dom Gruzchika from Perm, and Gallery ч9 from Murmansk, the very northwest of the Russian Federation. Amongst other first-time exhibitors are the Artist-Run Alliance from Israel, Durden and Ray from Los Angeles, Storm and Drunk from Madrid, Ekkisens Art Space from Iceland, SAW gallery from Canada, and many more.

The overarching theme of SUPERMARKET 2018 is ‘Legacy: Who Will Survive And What Will be Left of Them?’. It discusses the heritage of art and the fleeting nature of human legacy, the issues of sustainability of the artist-run art scene, or the impact that artists have as individuals.

As every year, SUPERMARKET 2018 includes the public programme TALKS & PERFORMANCE, with panel discussions, presentations and performance art. The Professional Networking Participants programme (PNP) also continues with its focus on exchange of knowledge and experience from within the artist-run art scene. 

For the full list in pdf click here! 

Public dates: 12–15 April 2018

Address: Fållan 10, Slakthusområdet, Stockholm (metro Globen)

Are you a member of the press? 

Press viewing: 3 pm, Wednesday 11 April. Accreditation: accred@supermarketartfair.com

More information: Felicia Gränd, Press officer, Email: press@supermarketartfair.com, Tel: +46 (0)70 948 38 30

The Professional Networking Participants (PNP) programme is aimed at art professionals with the purpose to create a meeting point for Swedish and international artists, curators and art operators in order to expand their networks beyond the exhibition space.

Last chance to submit your application is tomorrow (midnight) and we would like to encourage you one last time to apply at http://bit.ly/2FJCa5Q, or contact our coordinator Emer for questions at pnp@supermarketartfair.com. We are looking forward to your applications!