Gardar Eide Einarsson

POWER HAS A FRAGRANCE

In the exhibition, “Power Has a Fragrance,” Gardar Eide Einarsson explores the principal structures of social conflict in modern society.The dual theme of authority and rebellion is a departure point for his visually hermetic, mostly black and white paintings, carefully constructed sculptures, photographs, videos, flags and flyers. Drawing heavily on graffiti, skateboarding and punk music, he engages with alternative and abject cultures in order to unsentimentally address the workings of contemporary society from within its anomalous manifestations. In one expression of this desire, Einarsson appropriates everyday imagery to reveal how mass media, and the advertising industry in particular, controls our beliefs and actions. By re-contextualizing corporate logos, tattoos, and graffiti scripts together within the institutional setting of the art exhibition, he constructs a powerful, sophisticated, political irony. Similarly, the artist has selected simple pop-cultural slogans and painted them onto museum walls, printed them on flags, set them in light boxes and stenciled them against metal surfaces. Through this straightforward act, Einarsson creates a complex layering of meaning, with a strong underlying critique of manipulation, abuse and violence.