Is the Apeman the Most Suitable Symbol For the Art World?
To celebrate their new art palace, Stockholm-based CFHILL has invited the actor Terry Notary to act in their inauguration film, in which he features as Oleg, the apeman/artist from the Oscar-nominated movie The Square, by Ruben Östlund.
CFHILL has produced a film to express the transcendental and uncontrollable aspects of art. Acclaimed Hollywood actor Terry Notary (Avatar, Planet of the Apes, Kong etc.), plays his character Oleg, who first appeared in Ruben Östlund’s Oscar-nominated film The Square. In one of the movie’s key scenes, the sinewy apeman gives the art audience a fright during his performance at the opening night gala dinner.
Actor Terry Notary and Carsten Höller's Giraffe, 2018, CFHILL
'More than anything, Ruben Östlund's The Square deals with the power of art, and “Oleg” personifies its uncontrollable nature: untamed, cruel, and a doorway to the unknown. Just like art in general, but particularly true of our opening exhibition The Beautiful Escape,’ says founder Michael Storåkers.
In the new film, Oleg enters the space and is confronted with the art works, which initially frustrate and anguish him. Eventually, by touching and sniffing the objects, he connects with them, and reconciliation occurs. All of this is expressed through nothing but his sinewy body language, his grunts, and his screams.
The inaugural group exhibition The Beautiful Escape takes as its theme the act of withdrawal and the various ways in which artists have utilized this strategy. One of the artists represented in the exhibition is Hilma af Klint (1862-1944), the pioneering abstract artist, who was only recently discovered. The exhibition also includes works by Paloma Varga Weisz, Ryan McGinley, Carsten Höller, and Christine Ödlund. Read more about the exhibition here. The 800 m2 palace opens this week.
CFHILL, an art space in Stockholm specialized in art advisory services as well primary and secondary art exhibitions, was founded in 2016. Two years later, the business is relocating to a 17th century palace in the city center.
