Monday, January 16, 2006

Innocence Is No Excuse


Kim Simonssons meter high sculptures are pretty creepy. Kids with hollowed out eyes and blank faces, or wearing masks, is a rather disturbing concept, and the way the artist executes it makes it all the more effective.

An obvious parallel can be seen in the art of Ufuoma Urie, but Simonsson takes it to another level. Urie’s dolls are just plain scary, while Simonsson has much more to say about society today. His world is not a fantasy world, even though the imagery draws heavily from Japanese manga and anime figures. The settings are urban, and suburban, areas and the dolls are iconic symbols of popular culture.

The narrative is pretty open ended. Simonsson doesn’t seem to be interested in telling us all the answers. That being said, he isn’t clueless. The combination of cute and childish dolls, with scary features and accessories, in a well known environment, is obviously a comment on society and innocence lost.

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