Internet art phenomenon Petra Cortright is doing her first major Scandinavian presentation with a solo show at Isbrytaren, presented by Carl Kostyàl. According to curator Alida Ivanov it moves from the web-based realm into the domain of “the real” while blurring the lines in between the two. The experience, when created within the gallery space, mimics that of www.petracortright.com.
Online, she is known for her humorous Youtube clips, gifs and jpegs. The image of herself is constantly mediated through the images of the digital era. Typicaly for our times, the boundary between private and public is blurred.
Petra, why should one come see your show?
Haha I don’t think anyone should feel like they should come see the show – I hope they do because they want to. I’m proud of the work and I think it will be a very beautiful show. The work that I make is simple and visual. I’m very much interested in classical subjects – landscapes, portraits – I have an interest in simplicity and beauty. You don’t need an essay to understand the work. I work in a contemporary way but I think the subject matter is easily accessible. I think if you like Monet you will like my work (laughs).
What are your plans for the future?
To be honest I hope the future will be similar to what I’m doing now. I’m very content with how things are going. I’m moving into a huge new studio soon in Los Angeles which will be amazing. I’m looking forward to being very productive and making a lot of new work. My plans are to try to keep things on a linear path as much as possible, but if I get hit by a bus tomorrow, it won’t matter what I had planned for myself in ten years anyway, so whatever.
Do you feel like you are a part of some kind of movement?
Yes I do. I think there is a good community for…whatever you want to call it? Post-Internet art, I guess? Artists who have used the internet as a subject and as a network have really started to change things. I think that even the tendency of it was not so direct, it comes more natural and more intuitive. Of course we are working like this, it’s a modern way to do things and it only seems logical. In life you can only do what is natural to you, and you only realize maybe or other people start to tell you that you do things differently, I guess that is how things keep moving forward?
See the Petra Cortright exhibition presented by Carl Kostyàl at Isbrytaren, Kungsholmen until May 4.
Read more at: http://www.petracortright.com
