BMA Presents Nathalie Djurberg & Hans Berg / Delights of an Undirected Mind

First U.S. Museum Presentation of Recent Videos and Sculpture by Acclaimed Swedish Artists

BALTIMORE, MD (October 31, 2018)—The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) presents Nathalie Djurberg & Hans Berg / Delights of an
Undirected Mind, an exhibition of psychologically charged videos, sculpture, and immersive installations by the Berlin-based Swedish artists. Their captivating stop-motion animations embrace Surrealist themes—dreams, the subconscious, and the emotional and irrational—and convey both humor and darkness. This is the first U.S. museum presentation for each of these works. On view February 24–May 26, 2019, the exhibition is presented concurrently with Monsters & Myths: Surrealism and War in the 1930s and 1940s.

“Djurberg and Berg’s fantastical videos probe our deepest fears and desires, while upending accepted truths about man’s supremacy in nature and our perceptions of memory, time, and space,” said BMA Dorothy Wagner Wallis Director Christopher Bedford. “The BMA is excited to introduce museum visitors to the work of these two exceptionally talented artists.”

Nathalie Djurberg, the driving force behind the creative duo, laboriously handcrafts elaborate environments and characters out of clay, foam, wire, fabric, and paint, resulting in a colorful and unrestrained aesthetic. Recognizing that sound was a critical element missing from her early works, in 2004 she began collaborating with Hans Berg—a successful Swedish composer, producer, recording artist, and house musician. The artists have collaborated ever since, creating dynamic installations and seductive sound pieces that have immense dimensionality and emotional impact.

Nathalie Djurberg & Hans Berg / Delights of an Undirected Mind includes three of the artists’ signature stop-motion animated films accompanied by a blend of psychedelic and techno music. These absurd fables involve seemingly innocent anthropomorphic figures that soon transform into ominous and sinister beings. Dark Side of the Moon (2017) is set in a forest clearing, where the desires of the characters—a smoking wolf, a young girl, an obese pig, and a prancing golf ball-like moon—revolve around a mysterious cabin where only the chosen few are allowed to enter. In Delights of an Undirected Mind (2016), a teenage girl with bright red lips wearing pajamas is featured in a bedroom filled with creatures resembling playful plush toys that behave like an erotically uninhibited menagerie. A tiger, octopus, crocodile, and other creatures play violent games interspersed with bottle feeding and tea parties. Snake With a Mouth Sewn Shut, or, This is a Celebration (2018) shows a small abandoned child and a mother dragon’s mental breakdown in a claustrophobic room. The text fragments in the film show their desperate outcries—perhaps one of the darkest and most personal films to date.

Djurberg and Berg’s vision of altered reality is also displayed through three large-scale installations. Gas, Solid, Liquid (2014) comprises 10 large ceramic vessels embedded with animation and a cacophony of music; The Gates of the Festival (2014) fills a gallery with neon lights, sound, and animations; and a selection of Surrealist-like sculptures, Donuts & Eggs (2013), are surrounded by the animated film The Black Pot (2013). The Black Pot is entirely abstract, with figures and scenes giving way to pulsating and morphing colors and shapes in a cyclical course where things arise and disappear, only to reappear in a new guise.

Nathalie Djurberg & Hans Berg / Delights of an Undirected Mind is organized by Assistant Curator of European Painting & Sculpture Laura Albans.

This exhibition is generously sponsored by Nancy L. Dorman and Stanley Mazaroff.

Nathalie Djurberg and Hans Berg

About the Baltimore Museum of Art

Founded in 1914, the Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) inspires people of all ages and backgrounds through exhibitions, programs, and collections that tell an expansive story of art—challenging long-held narratives and embracing new voices. Our outstanding collection of more than 97,000 objects spans many eras and cultures and includes the world’s largest public holding of works by Henri Matisse; one of the nation’s finest collections of prints, drawings, and photographs; and a rapidly growing number of works by contemporary artists of diverse backgrounds. The museum is also distinguished by a neoclassical building designed by American architect John Russell Pope and two beautifully landscaped gardens featuring an array of modern and contemporary sculpture. The BMA is located three miles north of the Inner Harbor, adjacent to the main campus of Johns Hopkins University, and has a community branch at Lexington Market. General admission is free so that everyone can enjoy the power of art.