graduation exhibition Kunstskolen i Rogaland
Skur 2, Stavanger
14.5.-2.6.14
Every year I have high expectations for the graduation exhibition of the students of Kunstskolen i Rogaland. I always expect to find some works that amuse, surprise, challenge or please me. So is the case also this year. The artworks that impressed me most also happen to be those of the artists who where present then. That is no coincidence. The school obviously not only focus on making great art, but also in making it personal, relevant and challenging, and being able to talk about it. Listening to this adds so much more to the energy of the artworks. Thanks to Gjøa Drabløs Orheim and Åshild Nordahl for creating a great art experience!
The exhibition offers paintings, installations, videos, found material, photos, experiments, beauty, uglyness, feminism, nature, history, madness, joy, anger and despair. Here are some of the impressions:
Anastasiya Serdyukova: Geometri 08:47
Ordinary landscape photos are doubled and put into a unique pattern.
Trine Seldal Nessa: Sjømannen + Kongsdatter + Passasjerer + Mayhem + Trollgauleren
Portraits, wild colors and an artist gone wild with the chainsaw.
Steven Hay Djup: Målet er å uttrykke seg, mediumet er målet å utforske
A wall filled with items representing the joy of creating, following no rules.
Anna T. S. Enoksen: Ensom hjort
Benedicte Eie Goa: Etter livet
Items with paintings offering a new view on things.
Gjøa Drabløs Orheim: Den gangen da jeg fønte kroppen og syntes det var deilig
How can you resist such a title on an artwork? The title is an artwork itself: "When I blow-dried my body and it felt wonderful". The movie itself is also worth the attention, as the protagonist is in fact blow-drying her body, enjoying it. She poses like in the wind-tunnel-shampoo-commercials, but in this case nothing is for sale, we are just invited to share her joy, for free.
Gjøa Drabløs Orheim: Takk for meg og vaginaen min
Resting on feminist litterature from the public library, a wooden board shows the projected photo of the middle part of a female body. The underwear is covering vital female body parts, but for those who are not informed, a model is carved into the board beside it. Brutal force may have been used for making this, and my thoughts go to the brutal acts done against women and their sexuality through circumcision, rape and repression.
Åshild Nordahl: Ovanfrå og ned + Eg tek det herifrå + Då det som var mitt blei vårt
An empty frame on a desk resting in female boots, a mountain separating and putting a heavy load on the two individual frames, and a fragile tower of items, held together and kept from collapsing only by female underwear. Here are stories of despair, uneven balance in relationships, families on the verge of collapsing, stories that will never be told, and the power of women.
Åshild Nordahl: Ovanfrå og ned (detail)
Christine Sikveland: Alt det ord kan gi deg
Poetry both on the wall and on origami-pieces
