Nathalie Djurberg Tiger licking girl's butt

Solo exhibition

Animated fairytales of the absurd by artist Nathalie Djurberg.

I start to smile and watch and I recognize my childhood in Nathalie’s films. It feels like they allow me to be a child again. Then the feeling changes, quickly and resolutely, so that I’m confronted with the grown-up consciousness of what happens around me. Now that I am an adult I know for certain that the world isn’t as beautiful as it is in the fairytales. It slowly becomes clear. Nathalie’s films are not a fairytale world. I don’t only see cute modeling clay figures, but sharp and adult narratives. It’s about more serious subject matters, about patterns that are passed on from parents to children, about loneliness and the absurd sides of people’s behavior. About war, fear, insecurity and stupidity. They are stories that I sometimes don’t want to see in real life. Things I sometimes might close my eyes before. Close my eyes or change the channel because I don’t identify with them or because I don’t want to identify with them.

Nathalie’s stories about these heavy and horrible topics are cleverly told. We get to meet fairytales that tell us about grown up feelings. A seemingly ordinary handling of seemingly childish subject matters. These seemingly naïve films don’t leave me unaffected. Not after the first, second or even third time I finish watching them. They become stronger, clearer and sharper every time. And I become more and more uneasy. I keep watching. The child in me sees fairytales in a make-believe world, my adult self sees the world. Sees the world the way it is. And in this manner I want to continue watching. It makes me understand. As a child I want to keep looking to see the end.