.NO gallery presents The North Stars series: BLUE, WHITE and RED. The first exhibition of the three, BLUE, opens at .NO gallery in New York on Friday February 4th. Opening reception from 6-8PM.
.NO, a non‐profit, artist‐run gallery now opening on the Lower East Side, is proud to launch with THE NORTH STARS: BLUE, WHITE and RED, our inaugural series of three exhibitions presenting the work of 28 contemporary artists from Norway. While the participants who are based in their home country have already made solid names for themselves there and in Europe, many have yet to be shown in the U.S.
The shows, structured around the colors of the Norwegian flag, explore the symbolism and psychological connotations inherent in each of these hues. Knowing that the Nordic region is often associated with coldness and melancholy, it seems apt to start the series with musings on the color BLUE. Next out is WHITE, featuring more pared‐down pictorial languages: minimalist investigations of form as well as figurative work where the expressive force resides in the naked line. RED, the final chapter of the series, presents narratives on the eternal themes of love, passion, gender, sex, pain, violence, and lust for life, all conveyed through a wide range of depictions of the body.
Working in a variety of media (painting, drawing, collage, text, sculpture, installation and performance), many of the NORTH STARS artists are represented in The National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design in Oslo, as well as in a number of overseas institutions, such as Museum Forum Konkrete Kunst, Germany; and the Cincinnati Art Museum. Selected for the first chapter are bittersweet and dreamlike scenarios by accomplished painters Frank Brunner and André von Morisse, as well as Sol Kjøk's large‐scale parables of the human condition. While the raw, spontaneous style of the five‐member artists' collective Tegneklubben (The Drawing Club) is strikingly different from Åsil Bøthun's soft‐spoken and poetic renderings, they all investigate peculiar aspects of the Norwegian psyche. Kurt Johannessen, a pioneer of the Norwegian performance art scene, will contribute textual pieces and artist books, while Mikkel Wettre and Stefan Schröder have been invited to create site‐specific wall works. Showcased in the storefront window is a piece by Rune Olsen, whose provocative animal sculptures—which have been reviewed in Art in America, ArtForum, and Sculpture Magazine—are permanently on display at NYC's Museum of Sex. The censoring of one of his works from the DARKNESS DESCENDS show held in Manhattan during Armory Week of 2009 led to news coverage in countries as far away as Italy.
All leading lights of the contemporary Norwegian art scene acknowledged with numerous awards and grants, the remaining participants to be presented throughout March and April are Ane Graff, Björn Hegardt, Lotte Konow Lund, Finn Graff, Hanne Lydia Opøien Kristoffersen, Kristin Skrivervik, Lars Strandh, Anki King, Marit Victoria Wulff Andreassen, Eli Skomsø, and Marianne Darlén Solhaugstrand. Kjetil Skøien will contribute both 2D work and a stage piece, as will the internationally touring performance artists Agnes Nerdregård, Anne‐Marte Eidseth Rygh, and Tone Gellein.
This inaugural series has been made possible thanks to generous support by the Office of Contemporary Art Norway, the Royal Norwegian Consulate General in NYC, and the Fearnley Astrup Foundation.
THE NORTH STARS‐series: BLUE, WHITE and RED
BLUE: Feb 4th – March 3rd, 2011
WHITE: March 4th – 31st, 2011
RED: April 1st – 28th, 2011