Ingrid Ung is a Swedish artist born in 1973 and working in Helsinki, Finland. She comes from a long line of feminist artists who seek to mine the ambiguous topography that lies between the genders. In her work she seeks to play with the perception of someone who is transgender and the assumptions that the viewer might bring to a person with a unique expression of masculinity or implicitly challenging whether that kind of binary thinking about gender makes sense at all.
A wonderful example of her work can been seen in the video, “What is Cold Song for T-Woman.” In this movie, the viewer is plunged into the psychological world of a pre-operational trans woman who has made the decision to make a permanent physical change through elective surgery. There is certainly a trajectory within the film to make the woman’s decision-making known and understandable, but what really makes the video stand out is the capacity to make the viewer take these issues and direct them back to himself or herself. Above this, it is also a strikingly beautiful video.
Ingrid’s work is reminiscent of the work of Zackary Drucker and Rhys Ernst, two artists who will be featured in next year’s Whitney Biennial. Taken together, these artists are forging new ground within the domain of gender performance – and the public is starting to pay some serious attention.
Artist Statement
Im a multicultural mixed media artist, graduated from Chelsea College of Art and Design MA Fine Arts 2000. Since graduation I’ve been working professionally as an artist and freelance producer in London 1999-2000, Berlin 2001-2003 and Finland 2004-2013.
Since 2004 I’ve been working a lot on gender issues and the formation of identity. The often lens based works have been groundbreaking in Finland and made a big change in the general tolerance towards minorities, by working with video, sound and photography, drawings and writing I’ve reached to a wider audience than traditionally in art.
In recent years my works have developed more to reflect on recent issues streaming in society regarding for example ecology/climate change/social issues, holistic tendencies. Through being involved and deepening my own interest in these issues for example in Transition town movement, Organic Food coop, work in ngo organizations my creative works have also been starting to reflect issues mentioned. For example, my video Fairy (Blip.TV) is in an informal way discuss recent economical/ecological/social and ideological crisis in western society. My work suggests that a more holistic and spiritual approach to reality could balance recent challenges and build a more sustainable dimension where nature, human and technology are more in harmony.
My works have been shown in Helsinki Art Hall Finland, KIASMA Museum of Contemporary Art Helsinki Finland, Aboa Vetus Ars Nova Museum Turku Fin, Tampere Art Museum Fin, South Carelian Art Museum Lappenranta Fin, KUMU Tallinn Estonian Museum of Art, Amos Art Museum Helsinki Fin, TR1 Tampere museum of Contemporary Art Fin and in numerous artist run galleries and project spaces.
Biography
Ingrid Ung (born 1973) Malmö, Sweden live/works in Tenala Raseborg/Helsinki. She belongs to a new generation of multicultural/lingual finn artists, her family is finnslovenegerman. She was born in Sweden but have been studying arts in London UK and lived in Berlin, Stockholm, Estonia, Paris and India.
Her works have between 2004-2010 focus on how identity and gender are continuously being formed/constructed as in addition to her multicultural/lingual background. Meanwhile, her work flows between diverse medias like video/sound/photo/text/drawing and painting/installation and performance.
Ingrid is a transsexual woman. Her works have opened a discussion regarding gender/sex change in Finland through shows for example in Helsinki Art Hall studio 2006, where a video Trans Am and photo works were widely discussed in public media.
Part of her creative work is also lecturing/informing/sharing about these issues and try to contribute to a more tolerant society. She is active in NGO organisations like SETA, Transtukipiste and have during recent years also worked with holistic issues, ecology/environment and a more sustainable reality for the future as she is involved in new green movements like Transition Town movement (Siirtymäliike) and ecological groups, which have also influenced her creative work.
Studies
1996-1999 Free Art School Helsinki Finland Ba Painting
1999-2000 Chelsea College of Art and Design London UK Ma Fine Arts
Solo Exhibitions
2001 Gallery Leena Kumola Helsinki Finland
2002 Helsinki city Art Museum Finland
2005 Porvoo Arthall Finland
2006 Helsinki Arthall project space Finland
2010 Gallery Visu Kokkola Finland, Gallery Huuto Helsinki Finland
2012 Aboa Vetus Ars Nova Museum project space Turku Finland
2013 Huddinge Art Hall Stockholm Sweden, Ben Navaee Gallery Toronto Canada
2014 Whitespace Edinburgh Scotland, Photographic Museum project space Helsinki
Group Exhibitions
1999 BOXing Nordic Contemporary Art Vantaa Culture house Fin, Slurps Forum Box gallery Helsinki Fin, Goldsmith College London UK
2000 Handkerchief mobile gallery ICA London, Barbican UK, Scavengers ICA London UK , Greenhouse project Helsinki
2000 Fin , St.Petersburg Performance Festival Russia , ARTforum Berlin Germany, Tram gallery Helsinki 2000 Fin
2001 Stockholm Art Fair Swe, Polarflex Aroma Project Space Berlin Germany, Performance Festival Paide Estonia, Stockholm Poetry Festival Swe
2002 Art with Heart Steninge Palace Swe, Media Project Launderette Berlin Germany, Be Nice Tennispalace Art Museum Helsinki Fin
2003 Nordic video Malmö Arthall Swe, Stockwell Studios London UK, Dialogues Manege St.Petersburg Russia , Nordicliveart.org Gothenburg Art Museum Swe, A Dream about Red Chambers Art garden Hki
2004 Still life Helsinki Arthall-Tampere Art Museum Fin, Blind Sight DCA Scotland-Gallery Titanik Turku Fin-Royal Academy Edinburgh Scotland
2005 Complexity of Life Ars Nova Museum Turku-South Carelian Art Museum Lappenranta Fin, Dialogues Manege St.Petersburg Russia
2007 Muu Art Fair Suomi Helsinki Fin , Gallery Sinne Mental Helsinki
2008 Tibet show arranged by Tibet org., Muu Art Fair Suomi, Wundergrund Gnist Tammisaari, Henki Gallery Jangva Helsinki
2009 Faces Festival Billnäs, Art fair Suomi Helsinki,
2010 Amos Art Museum – Take care, art from Finland and Estonia Helsinki Fin, KUMU Tallinn Estonian museum of Art, Art Fair Suomi Helsinki Fin, ARTISTS 2010 annual show of artists in Finland Tampere museum of contemporary art , Polku Honkahovi Art Center Mänttä Fin,
2011 Mediapyhät Galleria Rajatila Tampere
Represented
Helsinki city Art Museum
Index Stockholm Swe
Pro Artibus.fi Fin
Donner collection
City of Tammisaari + private collections, works in publics spaces in Helsinki & Vaasa
Grants
1998 Swedish Culturefund , Culture foundation Sweden-Finland
2000 Helsinki city Young Artist Award , Frame Art exchange
2001 Art council of Finland , Swedish Culturefund , Nifca Sleipnir
2002 Art council of Finland , AVEK Audio Visual Development Fund Fin , Nifca Sleipnir
2003 Nifca Punkt , Oskar Öflund fund , Swedish Culturefund, Art council of Finland, Helsinki city production grant , Paulo fund
2004 Swedish Culturefund , Niilo Helander Fund ,
2005 Culture foundation of Finland , Swedish Culturefund , Nyland Culturefund , Art council of Finland , Culture foundation Sweden-Finland
2006 Art commission of Uusimaa , Swedish Culturefund , Konstsamfundet, Art council Fin
2007 Swedish Culturefund,
2008 Konstsamfundet, Art Commission of Uusimaa
2009 Svenska Kulturfonden, Art council of Finland, Alfred Kordelin Foundation,
2010 Svenska Kulturfonden, AVEK, Art council of Finland ,Culture fund Finland-Denmark.
2011 Art council of Fin, Svenska Kulturfonden, Niilo Helander foundation,
2012 Svenska Kulturfonden, Art council of Finland