31 October 2014

Lise Birkeland: bilder og skulpturer

Bilder og skulpturer
Lise Birkeland
30.10.-30.11.14
Tore's kunst og ramme, Stavanger
Nude paintings and bronze sculptures

A great way of using this new gallery space: Inviting an artist skilled in both painting and sculpture, to fill both the walls and the room with her artwork. Lise Birkeland's sculptures are both fragile and sturdy, with almost impossible proportions in bronze and plexiglas. They are very well combined with her nude paintings, with energic brushstrokes and subtle colors.

Lise Birkeland: bilder og skulpturer

Lise Birkeland: bilder og skulpturer

Lise Birkeland: bilder og skulpturer

Lise Birkeland: bilder og skulpturer


Snøfrid Hunsbedt Eiene: Nye malerier

Nye malerier
Snøfrid Hunsbedt Eiene
30.10.-27.11.14
Kunstgalleriet, Stavanger                              
Abstract paintings

Here we may see what Snøfrid Hunbedt Eiene has been working on lately: Large abstract paintings. Some may seem very minimalistic, almost monochrome, at first glance. But here are layers and layers of effort and energy. The paintings seem like old buildings covered with many layers of paint, with scratches and scars, faded and repainted. The same layers of history on a building surface are in these paintings.

Snøfrid Hunsbedt Eiene: Nye malerier

Snøfrid Hunsbedt Eiene: Nye malerier

Snøfrid Hunsbedt Eiene: Nye malerier

25 October 2014

Europe, Europe

Europe, Europe
18.9.14.-1.2.15
Astrup Fearnley Museet, Oslo  
Art impressions from Berlin, Brussels, London, Lisbon, Oslo, Paris, Prague and Zürich

It is a massive task: Trying to show an overview on the frontline of European contemporary art. First of all 8 important and prospering art cities were chosen: Berlin, Brussels, London, Lisbon, Oslo, Paris, Prague and Zürich. From here on the exhibition will move on and add and extract cities from the list. The curators chose two artists and one local curator from each city, and the result is a grand mess of art and artists more or less connected to those places.

Is there some kind of European Contemporary Art? Probably not. Why exactly these cities? Would it have been shockingly different with Ljubljana, Dublin, Bergen, Thessaloniki, Cagliari, Marbella and Tartu? Probably just as different as it would have been with other curators.

So maybe I should not be too preoccupied to find the Pan-European line in this, also not trying to distinguish one city from the other. Instead I may just enjoy a wide variety of art. It feels like visiting an art fair, without the over-friendly gallery people trying to push art on you, just the art.

In this chaos some artworks just fade in the light of others, some crave a lot of attention, others not. But then again each visitor have their own preferences, and here the cliché "something for every taste" could not be more fitting. If you find it all relevant and interesting, there might be something wrong - or you may be a real European.

These are my impressions:

Tori Wrånes: The Rock
Tori Wrånes: The Rock

A rocking rock with a squeaking sound, hanging above the entrance area, is the first sculpture visitors meet.

André Romão: Europa
André Romão: Europa

As we are talking about Europe, we might as well start with the myth of Europe - the Phoenician princess whom Zeus abducted in the shape of a white bull.

Simon Denny: New Management
Simon Denny: New Management

And then we suddenly meet the biggest competitor to Europe, the Asian tiger - in the shape of installations, board rooms, slogans and corporate strategies in the Samsung company.

André Romão: Ghost Holding a Shell (Oslo version)
André Romão: Ghost Holding a Shell (Oslo version)

Sometimes the simple solution is the best

Katja Novitskova: Approximation (shoebill) + Emil M Klein: Untitled LXV (Titanium Buff)
Katja Novitskova: Approximation (shoebill) + Emil M Klein: Untitled LXV (Titanium Buff)

Camille Henrot: The Descendants of Pirogues
Camille Henrot: The Descendants of Pirogues

Halvor Rønning: Untitled
Halvor Rønning: Untitled

Joakim Martinussen & Halvor Rønning: Room Divider + Joakim Martinussen: Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
Joakim Martinussen & Halvor Rønning: Room Divider
Joakim Martinussen: Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday

Shelly Nadashi: A Hidden Quiet Pocket
Shelly Nadashi: A Hidden Quiet Pocket

During quite brutal massage, the masseuse and the massaged have a conversation about a hidden place and its features and history, with strong voices as a result of the massage.

Richard Loskot: Another Place
Richard Loskot: Another Place

Seen straight on there are only light plates, but seen from the side shapes appear.

Alternative Spaces: Abilene, Brussels: Louis Clais: 666
Alternative Spaces: Abilene, Brussels:
Louis Clais: 666

Artist run galleries in the chosen cities are invited to fill this space on short terms during the exhibition period

Richard Parry: Art Zimbabwe
Richard Parry: Art Zimbabwe

David Douard: UP BEAT UP" rendition (detail)
David Douard: UP BEAT UP" rendition (detail)

The most massive and varied installation of the exhibition: with animation projections on mannequins, billboards, dreamcatchers with tiny buildings, and milk cartons.

David Douard: UP BEAT UP" rendition (detail)
David Douard: UP BEAT UP" rendition (detail)

Caroline Mesquita: Windsurfers
Caroline Mesquita: Windsurfers

Petter Buhagen: Moments
Petter Buhagen: Moments

Printer toner and archival varnish on paper

Gabriel Abrantes & Katie Widloski: Olympia I & II
Gabriel Abrantes & Katie Widloski: Olympia I & II

Videos showing new versions of the Olympia painting by Manet. Here in both a female and male version.

Pavla Sceranková: Open Closed Open Closed...
Pavla Sceranková: Open Closed Open Closed...

In this building the doors are constantly open closed open closed ... by the force of the wind

Pavla Sceranková: Mixer
Pavla Sceranková: Mixer

The artist is turning an installation, changing shape by gravity and centrifugal force

Eloise Hawser: 100 Kev - Truck Scanned Crossing the border
Eloise Hawser: 100 Kev - Truck Scanned Crossing the border

19 October 2014

Public art at Jernbanetorget

Julia Vance:WE - ME
Eivind Blaker: Do You See What I See?
Oslo S - Oslo Central Station
October 2014
Installations

Julia Vance: We-Me
Julia Vance: WE - ME

The sculptures are maybe most famous for not getting there: They got stuck in customs, as the authorities did not believe this was art, and import tax should be charged.

Now the sculptures are stuck in their position at the entrance of Oslo Central Station. It was possible to turn the wheels to choose between ME and WE on the sculptures, but the wheels are now locked in position by padlocks. Two of three are thus locked in egosetric position, showing ME, and there is nothing WE can do about it.

Eivind Blaker: Do You See What I See?
Eivind Blaker: Do You See What I See?

In a wonderful installation consisting of just two layers, a painted magenta background and a foreground of stripes cut in black canvas. The result is a rastered portrait, slightly shivering in the wind. I believe many pass this visual miracle daily not realizing what it is all about. They do not see what I see.

18 October 2014

Female sculptures in Oslo

Female sculptures
Various artists
The streets and shopping malls of Oslo
2014

Oslo has got its brand new sculpture park at Ekeberg, featuring female sculptures or art on the topic of women. I am still saving that to later, for a day with nice weather and plenty of time. But in the meanwhile, what does the city center offer when it comes to female sculptures? I walked around to have a look. At first glance all women seemed to be more or less naked, mostly put in shopping malls or shopping areas, and mostly made by men, like Per Ung, Emil Lie and Skule Vaksvik.


Edvard Eriksen: Den lille havfruen
Edvard Eriksen: Den lille havfruen - in Folkets hus

Marc Quinn: Myth (Sphinx) - Kate Moss
Marc Quinn: Myth (Sphinx) - Kate Moss - in Folkets hus

Kirsten Kokkin: Danserinne - In Paleet
Kirsten Kokkin: Danserinne - In Paleet shopping mall

Nymph and composers
Nymph and composers

Georg Kolbe: Pieta
Georg Kolbe: Pieta

Gustav Vigeland: Mann og kvinne
Gustav Vigeland: Mann og kvinne

Rådhusplassen: Sculpture by Emil Lie
Rådhusplassen: Sculpture by Emil Lie

Rådhusplassen: Sculpture by Emil Lie

Rådhusplassen: Sculpture by Emil Lie
Rådhusplassen: Sculpture by Emil Lie

Rådhusplassen: Sculpture by Emil Lie
Rådhusplassen: Sculpture by Emil Lie

Rådhusplassen: Sculpture by Per Hurum
Rådhusplassen: Sculpture by Per Hurum

Stencil art: Made in China
Stencil art: Made in China

Aker Brygge
Headless sculpture at Aker Brygge

Skule Waksvik: Kvinnen på bryggen

Sculpture by Skule VV
Skule Waksvik: Kvinnen på bryggen

Skule Waksvik: Hanne på stranden
Skule Waksvik: Hanne på stranden

Rådhuset
Rådhuset decoration

Rådhuset
Rådhuset decoration

Rådhuset
Rådhuset decoration

Nina Sundbye: Aasta Hansteen
Nina Sundbye: Aasta Hansteen

Wenche Foss
Per Ung: Wenche Foss

Johanne Dybwad
Per Ung: Johanne Dybwad

Per Ung: Fru Fortuna
Per Ung: Fru Fortuna

Miley Cyrus - at Radisson Blu Scandinavia Hotel, Oslo
Miley Cyrus - hotel decoration