The Theatre of Shame – Trygve Skogrand

About

Shame is the subject for the new series of images by Norwegian artist Trygve Skogrand. Not any shame, but the deep shame of not belonging to the large hegemonic group, a shame that leads to self-exclusion. We all inherit the values and prejudices of our society. This is even so when the prejudices are against the subgroup that you are self a part of. This can leave you with subconscious prejudices against yourself – a shame of being who you are.

”I believe that many feels this shame. Whether you are too thick, old, handicapped, have mental problems, are poor, unemployed, an immigrant - the list goes on and on - you risk ending up with this deep certainty: I am unacceptable.”

TRYGVE SKOGRAND

In the exhibition "The Theatre of Shame" the artist Trygve Skogrand investigates this shame, taking as the starting point his own self-biographical story about being a homosexual Christian.

The artist uses his own disclosed body as artistic raw material for the post-photographic works. The pictures show meticulously constructed figures, built up from a series of self-portraits, inhabiting constructed landscapes and settings, where the process of discovering the systems of this shaming of subgroups is examined.

Two works from the series have recently been exhibited in London and in Edinburgh. In the upcoming exhibition the complete series will be exhibited for the first time.

Trygve Skogrand is born in Sunndalen, Norway in 1967. He works mainly with post-photographic art, and has exhibited in Scandinavia, Italy and the UK. Skogrand lives and works in Malmö, Sweden.