.NO – a nonprofit gallery on the Lower East Side, presents ACTION–ReACTION: a Multidisciplinary Program on Power Relations, featuring the dance troupe Kompani iRo and visual artists Sverre Malling, Vibeke Jensen, Andrea Lange, Christer Karlstad, Tilda Lovell and Sol Kjøk. The exhibition is on display from October 13 through November 13th.
Opening Reception on Thursday Oct 13, 6‐8pm.
The exhibition is curated by Thale Fastvold in collaboration with .NO. Power relations and power structures have become an even more relevant and hotly debated topic following the acts of terrorism committed in Oslo on 7/22. Naturally, Norwegian artists are also profoundly affected by these tragic incidents, and some elements of the proposed program can be seen as artistic contributions to a collective mourning process. RE‐ACTION is a performance by Kompani iRo that explores the phenomenon of power by probing the ways in which power dynamics affect us. Its interactive structure allows the performers to leverage the viewers’ participation to call attention to the power relations that emerges among them, in the dancers’ relationship to the audience and between performers and onlookers. In dialogue with this time‐based piece, the visual artworks also explore similar themes.
Inger‐Reidun Olsen, whose innovative work blurs the boundaries between dance and performance art, founded Kompani iRo in 2005 and currently holds a 3‐year artist grant awarded by the Norwegian Government.
Sverre Malling creates complex and layered drawings contain references to classic art, botany, fairytales, occultism, folk art, psychedelia and children’s books. He has won several prestigious Norwegian art awards, such as the Weideman Prize and Høstutstillingsprisen, and his work is represented in the Norwegian National Gallery.
Trained as an architect, Vibeke Jensen creates sophisticated conceptual pieces, sometimes in the form of public art – such as her commission at the University of Oslo earlier this year – sometimes as urban interventions.
Andrea Lange, who is known for her subtly political work, had a solo show at the Stenersen Museum in Oslo last year, and her work is featured in the collections of the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, Henie‐Onstad Art Center, and others. Christer Karlstad’s beautifully rendered figurative paintings have been acquired by Kistefos‐Museet, the Central Bank of Norway, Statoil and Arts Council Norway.
Tilda Lovell, whose quirky and evocative creations are conveyed through several media, has received several awards and artist grants as well as commissions for public art pieces for the DOCH Dance and Circus University, Stockholm, and the Linkoping University.
Working in the field of human connections in her art as well as in real life, Sol Kjøk is the founder of .NO. Her images of interlaced bodies in motion are represented in public and private collections in a dozen countries, and will be featured this winter at the Yuchenco Museum in Manila, Philippines, as part of an international travelling exhibit.
SPECIAL EVENTS:
October 22, 1‐5 pm: Book Reading and Panel Discussion
Norwegian author Edy Poppy will read from her latest short story collection Sammen.Brudd. Launching their anthology KUNSTNER [Artist], the Norwegian curatorial team LOCUS will invite several artists to a public discussion on the issues addressed in these texts on how contemporary artists work today.
October 30, 7 pm: Premier performance of RE‐ACTION by Kompani iRo, with additional showings on Nov 3,4,5 and 10, 11, 12.
Gallery hours are Tuesdays to Fridays 12 pm – 6pm, and Saturday and Sundays 1 pm – 6 pm. Press viewings can be arranged prior to the
exhibitions. For more information or to arrange a viewing, please contact the gallery manager at (646) 431‐2663 or mail@no‐in‐nyc.org