Ulf Rollof — On display in our showroom

Sculptor Ulf Rollof calls his bullet hole paintings RGB. RED - GREEN - BLUE, the three basic colours used in digital media. It is through the flow of the colour space of digital images that we perceive our contemporary era. We see the RGB images on our screens, whose flat glass surface has a shape similar to the paintings.

The paintings are part of the series of works that the artist has repeatedly performed every year since 2004. Bullet hole painting. That's exactly what it is, although it can be perceived as a word composed of concepts that seem to contradict each other. We often think of a painting as something dynamic, a colour pigment with an adhesive gently applied by an experienced hand to a primed linen fabric. This is exactly the opposite. Shots from a 9mm firearm, intended to damage (or neutralize if desired), with violent force triggered from a distance against a solid glass surface. The force that strikes the crystal is violent, even deadly. But at the same time also a birth of a new image. The lines in the glass resemble nerve fibers.

What do the bullet hole paintings mean to you and why have they remained something you keep coming back to?
— 18 years have passed today since I started the journey together with my most ritual works, the RGBs. The cool thing is that with each passing year, I look forward more and more to summing up the past year in the work with my RGB paintings. The team I work with are actually still the same old gang. A lot has happened in everyone’s different lives over the years. I hope this can be seen and felt in the work’s character and precision. Consideration. In the middle of the violence there is a sense of calm. Hard to explain in words.

Does the new series differ in any way compared to the previous one, if so how?
— Yes, this work is unique in many ways because this has been a unique year to all of us on this planet. This year I chose to solely work with my RGBs. I have managed to refine some details as I had to plan the production with precision this year. The accuracy of each work's unique colour and the combination of the works' different colours seen as a coherent composition is new. For example, the glasses are cut in a new way. The works' new wall mounting works perfectly. 

How do you make the paintings? What does the actual production look like? 
— Since this is a protected work environment, I’m not allowed to say anything. 

Could you try to explain your thoughts about the violent aspect of the origin of the works. What kind of violence are they expressing in this particular case?
— When I experimented with the concept of the work, the two main thoughts were PAIN and SPEED. I’ve always been interested in finding the most effective working methods. I started working with my uncle Henry when I was 5 years old in Karlskrona. He taught me how to mend shoes. That dexterity remains today thank God.

Your bullet hole paintings have often been compared to starry skies, something that is associated with something mysterious and even romantic. But the stars we see are in a way representative of violence, both moments of creation and threats of annihilation. How do you see the points of contact with space and the paintings?
— Fantastic. Wow.