Tova Mozard's ILOVERUSS explores Hollywood dreams and paranormal realms at Nikolaj Kunsthal

Swedish artist Tova Mozard's 51-minute video work ILOVERUSS (2023) is projected across five screens at Nikolaj Kunsthal in Copenhagen, documenting her two-decade relationship with struggling actor Russ Kingston in Los Angeles. The exhibition, running from 26 May to 30 July, presents a claustrophobic vision of Hollywood's unglamorous side through Kingston's tatty apartment, hospital visits, and failed auditions. Mozard's single-channel video Psychic (2018) documents sessions with clairvoyants in LA, while photographs of smashed cars and empty comedy clubs deepen the seamy atmosphere. Throughout the venue's corridors, self-portraits like Snapshot (2000) show Mozard posing with German actor Udo Kier, and Channeling Elizabeth Short (2020) depicts her contacting the victim of the 1947 'Black Dahlia' murder. The disjointed video features scenes from The Magnificent Seven (1960) reenacted by Kingston, who croons The Platters' 1955 song The Great Pretender. Mozard's lens captures Kingston through years of disappointment, with conversations about paranormal experiences and broadcasting feelings. The exhibition makes sense of dreams and memory in a world of crummy apartments and downbeat storefronts, with Mozard returning to Sweden while Kingston remains hospitalized.