At the end of September, I opened another exhibition far north in Norway, at Bodø Kunstforening. The title is from two twin works I made during the summer that deal with two attacks on the social democratic movement in Scandinavia during my lifetime: the murder of Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme and the Utøya massacre. These events have affected me deeply, and it felt important and about time to deal with them like I always do - through art.
I also got to re-exhibit my new works done with fuel hose that I showed earlier this year at Galleri 21 in Malmö. This time, I connected the Ouroboros works with cable curled over the floor and made it an installation. It was the original plan in Malmö, but the rooms there didn´t allow it. I also added 15 more meters of fuel hose to the Jörmandgandr piece, and both variations turned out great.
I´m equally happy I got to exhibit the We Are Many works together as one big piece. I estimated the walls were high enough from the photos, and they were! Not only that, I had the chance to exhibit the Swedish Conditions series properly for the first time; I showed them twice before at Aurskog-Høland and Rælingen Kunstforening, and though it was two intimate and pleasant iterations, the walls and lightning were not optimal. Now, I could take pristine documentation of the whole series (though one of them is sold). And finally, I exhibited the three Long Stick works again. They were also part of the show at Aurskog-Høland Kunstforening but in a furnished room with pink walls that didn´t make the works justice, I think. This time, I taped the floor to visualise the measure of the stick I used to produce the works, 5,2 meters.
#471 Semblance (priorly exhibited at Galleri 21) was also in this exhibition as two other brand new works in the Tablet series - #483 A Good Deal and #483 No Deal. I´m super proud of the show, and I think there was a good balance between the works.
Because of the distance I didnt transported the paintings myself this time. I used the crates I built for the Harstad Kunstforening exhibition earlier this summer and the same shipping company. This time I knew they were solid so there were less worries.
I arrived safely and found the nice hotel room I booked had a view over the harbour and the gallery!
I was early and had time to stroll around the city before I met with Terje Sotberg who was substituting as head of the gallery. I found out there were some great cafés with excellent cortado.
The gallery was much bigger than I expected, even with a vast lobby. Terje was very helpful, and the installation went smoothly.
I was ready with the installation early and had time for some sightseeing. I went to the famous Saltstraumen, the world´s strongest maelstrom, according to the tourist office. It comes from a tidal current in a narrow stride.
And I treated myself to a fish dinner in a good restaurant.
The opening was so much fun! Terje introduced the exhibition, and there was musical entertainment. Quite a good crowd as well. A tour guide even came by with a group of tourists!
I got to know my fellow exhibited, Torgrim Wahl Sundt, well during the installation. His works were in an adjacent room, and I think both our shows matched rather well. My friend from the art academy, Odd Martinsen, came from Fauske, where he lives. It was good to see him again. He used to live in Oslo, and then we met regularly.
Me and Torgrim Wahl Sundt
Afterwards, Terje treated us to dinner, and then Odd, Torgrim, and I went for a stroll out on the pier because that´s what you do in Bodø!
And finally, we went to a party at Christer Holst, a friend of Torgrims. He had a project to take a group photo of everyone visiting his apartment.
Photo: Christer Holst
Here is the documentation. It turned out terrific!
This exhibition was important to me. I feel I was brave in my choices and that the show was uncompromising and close to my heart. I have used the documentation a lot already. The other day, I got the news that I was granted support from the regional funds for the project, so even if I didn't sell any works, I´m fine financially.
Order the poster below.