CULT PUMP 23: Year of the toad

CULT PUMP 23: YEAR OF THE TOAD

A group show curated by Zven Balslev, with a selection of current and upcoming artists from the CULT PUMP label:

 

Dindy Blaze, Zven Balslev, Sophie Z.S Suaning, Peter Larsen, Line Larsen, Anna Degnbol, Jurictus, Benjamin Savi

 

CULT PUMP was founded in 2010 by painter, graphic artist, draftsman and artist, Zven Balslev. The publisher’s philosophy is an extension of an anarchic D.I.Y. zine culture, inherited from both punk and underground comics. The publications also draw inspiration from various art trends and movements such as Art Brut, situationism and surrealism. Zven Balslev published a photocopied fanzine called Smittekilde, which was the precursor to CULT PUMP.

 

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CULT PUMP publishes, prints and distributes artist books, comics and posters, often silkscreened in a limited edition. Located next to the experimental concert venue Mayhem, CULT PUMP is also a graphic workshop founded with the vision of facilitating a collective space for underground and upcoming artists and creators who can be published outside the mainstream.

 

Year of the toad

About the holy almanac of the cult pump

“A reversed Thursday I went for a walk in the forest in Hornbæk and was struck by a terrifying but clear vision: Men turned into centipedes, birds turned into crabs and plants sang a song about the Year of the Toad. The song had man verses and I noted the verses about the Holy Almanac. The toad is one of the eight animals included in the Cult Pump’s zodiac. The other animals are centipede, the shark, the bear, the tortoise, the spider, the Portuguese Man-of-War, and the bat. The year of the toad always falls on the year 13, 23, 33 and so forth. The calendar of the Cult Pump a year is 456 days. The year of the Toad is immediately followed by the Year of the Bat (also known as the Year of the Black Lamp). I felt that my heart had now been replaced by an ancient toad.”

 

The books Themes and Variations by Benjamin Savi and a selection of available books from CULT PUMP will be presented at the exhibition.

 

Zven Balslev (b. 1977, Denmark) lives and works in Copenhagen. He graduated with an MFA from The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in 2006. Balslev’s sometimes strange, but always original drawings, paintings and graphics have developed over the years into a characteristic and distinctive style, which can be found on record covers, in art books and as original limited edition prints.