The University of Agder’s Art Collection: Campus Kristiansand
The University of Agder ’s Art Collection Campus Kristiansand
Mette-Line Pedersen Senior adviser/art historian for the University of Agder’s Art collection
Art and visual experiences at the University of Agder
Students, employees and visitors pass the art collection of the University of Agder every day. But do they really notice these works of art? Many are worth a closer look! Contemporary art often asks more questions than it answers, and may be considered as out of reach. Our goal is to make the art at UiA accessible and create room for curiosity, enjoyment and reflection. Over the years, UiA acquired many of its artworks as gifts and purchases, often supported by various funds. The organisation Art in Public Spaces (KORO) also played an important part in the financing and in initiating projects of high artistic quality. The collection consists of Norwegian and international contemporary art, and we are proud to announce that we have the world’s largest collection of Beat Art, donated by Reidar Wennesland in 1978. The main part of the Beat Art collection is stored and displayed at Campus Kristiansand. Part of the Wennesland’s collection, however, such as the chalcography collection and a collection of Beat drawings, is displayed at Campus Grimstad. The art collection has expanded the last years, and now it consists of paintings, photographs, graphic prints from KGV, ceramics, collages, room decorations, installations and drawings. We are always on the look-out for interesting works of art. The new floors at buildings J, F and G at Campus Kristiansand, for example, have recently been decorated with new art, as well as the newest building at Grimstad. UiA finds it important that the dissemination of art reaches a broad audience. This catalogue will contribute to accomplishing that. Publicly accessible art leads to new experiences, which in turn provide new opportunities for explanation and interpretation. An extensive catalogue of UiA’s art collection is currently under production at www.artsy.net.
Art Collections at UiA Campus Kristiansand
The Wennesland Collection In 1978, Reidar Wennesland (1908-1985) donated his entire art collection to Kristiansand Cathedral School and Agder University College. The vast Beat Art collection consisting of artworks from both well-known and unknown artists forms the most prominent part. It also includes a unique chalcography collection with approximately 180 reproductions of paintings from the 19th century. The chalcography collection was originally part of the collection of the de Young Museum in San Francisco. In the 1960s, however, they sold a number of the artworks and Wennesland bought several of them. It is fascinating to see that he collected these more traditional and classical works of art, which were a clear contrast to the abstract expressionism of the Beat Art. This wide range in the collection reveals a lot about Reidar Wennesland and his taste in art. More information about the chalcography collection can be found in the book “Connecting Lines. Engravings from the Wennesland Collection”. KORO KORO (Public Art Norway), or Utsmykningsfondet for nye statsbygg, as the organisation was originally named, was established by the Norwegian Parliament in 1976. KORO is responsible for facilitating the production of art in public buildings and other public settings. The government’s collection of art in public spaces has become an important part of the Norwegian artistic heritage. It is located at around a thousand different sites at home and abroad, and includes significant works of central Norwegian and international artists. This catalogue presents some of the KORO art spread around Campus Kristiansand. Several of the projects and individual works in the KORO collection are available at www.koro.no.
KORO
Raise boys and girls the same way The public art of UiA Campus Kristiansand is different from any previous projects of the Decoration Foundation. The architectural style of UiA had to be taken into consideration, as well as the practical use of the buildings. Based on the building’s function as an educational institution, the KORO decoration committee chose “Gender and Education” as their theme, titled Raise boys and girls the same way. They collaborated with a professional consultant from the Institute of Gender Research. Site-specific art Two artists created the art for three exhibition areas: Vrimlehallen, campus and the entrance hall. Jenny Holzer and Per Inge Bjørlo. Jenny Holzer’s installation consists mainly of 10 granite benches and a table with engraved texts, placed around campus. Per Inge Bjørlo made the several meters tall sculpture at the main entrance of the building. Mette Stausland created the mural in the cafeteria. Meeting rooms and lunchrooms are decorated with products made by artists who work with photography as artform. All of these relate to the decoration concept “Gender and Education”. Fine-art photography Signe Marie Andersen, Jeanette Christensen, Tone-Lise Magnussen, Eline Mugaas, Torill Nøst (three artworks moved to Campus Grimstad), Tom Sandberg and Mette Tronvoll.
Raise boys and girls the same way Where on UiA can you find it?
Vrimlehallen and campus:
Jenny Holzer, Installation for Agder
Main entrance (sculpture):
Per Inge Bjørlo, Skal/Kranium
Building A: Cafeteria wall:
Mette Stausland, Uten tittel
Building D: Lunchroom, 4th floor: Lunchroom, 3rd floor: Lunchroom, 3rd floor:
Mari Slaattelid, Protective Mari Slaattelid, Åsne og Malin med mjølk Mari Slaattelid, Åsne og Malin med vatn
Building G: Lunchroom downstairs: Jeanette Christensen, Point of departure Lunchroom upstairs: Jeanette Christensen, Point of departure Per Inge Bjørlo, Heads of Balance Building H: Lunchroom downstairs: Eline Mugaas, Uten tittel Lunchroom upstairs: Eline Mugaas, Uten tittel Meeting room: Mette Tronvoll, Isortoq#2 and Isortoq#21 Meeting room, basement: Astrid Nondal, Gress I, Gress II Corridor, basement: Astrid Nondal, Gress III. Astrid Nondal, Treskygger Reception: Per Inge Bjørlo, Heads of Balance Building I: Lunchroom downstairs: Lunchroom upstairs: Meeting room: Reception:
Mette Tronvoll, George, Müritz National Park Tone-Lise Magnussen (Landskap) Tom Sandberg, Uten tittel, Uten tittel Per Inge Bjørlo, Heads from Balance
Building J: Lunchroom downstairs: Lunchroom upstairs: Meeting room: Reception:
Mette Tronvoll, Matthew, Müritz National Park Signe Marie Andersen, No fishing Tom Sandberg, Uten tittel Per Inge Bjørlo, Heads from Balance
Per Inge Bjørlo Skal/Kranium Sculpture/metal KORO Location: Outside the main entrance
Fletcher Benton Steel Watercolor No. 81 – Phase III (1985) Sculpture/ patinated steel UiA’s art collection Location: Outside the School of Business and Law at UiA
Vigdis Sigurd Køhn (Undated) Acrylic paint UiA’s art collection Location: Building K
Anna Berthelsen SLOW HANDS I + II, SLOW FACES I + II, SLOW (Undated) Graphic prints UiA’s art collection Location: Building K
Photo: private
Frank Brunner
Frank Brunner was educated at the Norwegian National Academy of Fine Arts in Oslo, Ilja Repin Academy of Fine Arts in Saint Petersburg and Yale University, New Haven, USA. He works as a painter and graphic artist. Frank Brunner is an established artist with exhibitions both in Norway and abroad. In Norway, the exhibitions include The Stenersen Museum, Henie Onstad Kunstsenter and Galleri Haaken. Abroad, his exhibitions include Cynthia Broan Gallery, New York, A and A Gallery, New Haven and Gallery Zidoun, Paris. In 2012, he had a large retrospective exhibition at Haugar Vestfold Art Museum in Norway, which later moved to Bomuldsfabriken Kunsthall in Arendal. As a graphic artist, Frank Brunner practices lithography and etching. His motives revolve around humans and animals in both urban and nature-like settings. Frank Brunner’s products are characterised by quiet moments in an otherwise busy world. They are presented in consistent cold or warm shades of colour, which give the piece of art atmosphere.
Frank Brunner, Lightbulb (Undated), Graphics, UiA’s art collection Location: A6 Rectorate
Jenny Holzer Arno (1996) Sandblasted text on black Finnish granite KORO Location: Vrimlehallen
Jenny Holzer (born 1950) is one of the best-known female contemporary artists in the USA, famous for her strong visual messages. The closest we get to a celebrity artist at the University of Agder is the American visual artist Jenny Holzer. Her black, massive granite benches and tables with poetic texts are spread around Campus Kristiansand, both indoor and outdoor. They were part of the public KORO decoration that took place in 2001. Holzer originally wanted to become an abstract painter. However, in 1976, while studying at the Whitney Museum’s Independent Study Program, she started using words and narratives in her works. The extensive reading list of classical aesthetic and intellectual texts for the study program inspired her to use words visually. Her first artwork with words as a theme was created in 1977 and is called Truisms. It consists of a wide range of statements or aphorisms that are presented as truths that meets the viewer in public spaces, on street walls, windows, benches, phone booths, t-shirts and billboards. She also presented them as TVcommercials and her texts were shown on the large screen on Times Square, New York. The texts are sandblasted in large capital letters and appear as authoritative truths about life, suffering, cruelty and death. About sexuality, gender roles and who we are as human beings. For every new context, the texts gain new meanings. What is true? All of Holzer’s recent works are diversions and continuums of Truisms. In the series Inflammatory Essays, she works with quotes by Trotsky, Hitler and Mao. In Laments, thirteen suffering souls are given a voice. In Mother and Child, she problematises mother/ child-relationship and in Under a Rock, the texts are printed on sarcophaguses in order to give the messages a deeper meaning. These include some of her recent works.
Photo: Amanda Demme
Jenny Holzer
Jenny Holzer, Truisms (1980-82), Sandblasted text on black Finnish granite, KORO Location: The lawn
Jenny Holzer Truisms (1977) Sandblasted text on black Finnish granite KORO Location: The lawn
Kjell Nupen Cascade (1989) Oil on canvas UiA’s art collection. Gift from Storebrand. Location: Vrimlehallen
Kjell Nupen (1955-2014) was one of the most significant and popular visual artists in Norway. During a 40-year period, he produced a vast quantity of paintings, graphics, sculptures, installations and glass art. Nupen took his art education at the Norwegian National Academy of Fine Art (1972) and later in Düsseldorf, Germany. Through his education he got in contact with a political artistic environment that was reflected in his ability to thematise contrasts with material contradictions. His political commitment in the 1970s was inspired by the German artistic environment and political radicalism. Nupen wanted to raise awareness with his audience. The motives of his works were often violence-related and death became an essential motive in Nupen’s production, a retort to all the suffering in the world. Another example of a recurring motive, during the 1970s, was a running animal. This was a metaphor for the disturbing and changing spirit of the decade, inspired by the reality of media. However, he changes his focus during the 1980s, leaving his political focus behind and turning to a more meditative aspect.The formats grow in size and the colours become more prominent with archaic symbols and fonts. Besides paintings, Nupen produced the so-called “Nupen-anlegget” by Kristiansand harbor (1991). The sculpture park increases Kristiansand’s outlook towards the sea. In the same area, you can find a large ceramic jar. Nupen’s jars are part of an ancient Danish tradition traced to neo-romanticism. The references in this period are often to Romanticism and have a mythical foundation. Earth tones and traditional “rose painting” elements refer to a new period in Nupen’s artistry from 1995. Old signs and symbols were put together to form a new entirety. This also reflects the features of the art scene in the 1990s, where total freedom and disposal of genres are united in a crossover. By using applied arts together with the painting, the artist challenges the works of art concept and the visual arts concept. A montage like this is associated with
Photo: Jørn H. Moen, Dagbladet
Kjell Nupen
Kjell Nupen, graphic print, UiA’s art collection (The KGV collection) Location: Cafeteria
the Berlin Dadaists in the 1920s who were pioneers with montage techniques in the art world. The principal of the montage is that when you place two pictures together, they lead to a third meaning that transcends the sum of the two separate pictures The reactions to this new development in “rose painting” were split, and he received mixed reviews. The pictures Uten tittel, however, that are displayed at Campus Grimstad are more in line with Nupen’s style from the early 1990s, when he produced the previously mentioned jars and “Nupen-anlegget”.
Kjell Nupen Graphic print UiA’s art collection (The KGV collection) Location: Sigrid Undsets hus / Building 46
Kjell Nupen Graphic print UiA’s art collection / The KGV collection) Location: A6
KORO public art in Sigurd Køhns hus/ Building K In 2010, the new building for music studies was ready for use at the University of Agder. The building houses offices, rehearsal rooms, ensemble halls and music studio. The goal was to bring the various art programs at the university closer together physically, and to facilitate a more interdisciplinary cooperation. The artist Leiken Vik won the closed competition in creating the main artwork for the new building. The work “Samtidig, et annet sted” is put together by two pieces: An installation and a painting. The first work hangs to the right of the main entrance. Shiny steel stripes hang on the entire concrete wall at various heights and in various lengths. They create an interesting contrast between the shiny steel and the matte brushed concrete, between the rough and the fine. The steel stripes reflect the opposite wall and thus doubles as mirrors where we see ourselves and the world piece by piece. Further down the corridor, the second part of Vik’s artwork hangs. The painting is seven meters long and about two meters high. It covers an entire wall and is painted on Plexiglas. The motive may look like explosives of light in a vague landscape, but may also resemble a universe or the beginning of a parallel universe. Together these two parts reflect the extremities of the artistic creation process, with the cool steel on one side and the intuitive, emotional and explosive on the other. A side project by the artist Marianne Lund is also displayed in the building. On each floor of the stairwell, four paintings on circular aluminum plates are mounted on the wall. Together they make up the artwork Remember me. A stairway is a room we just pass through, in spirals up or down the floors. The intricate, time-consuming pieces of art in various sizes and shades of blue emphasise this feeling and contribute to giving the floors different identities.
Leiken Vik Samtidig, I et parallelt univers, del 1 (2010) Polished steel KORO Location: Sigurd Køhns hus/ Building K
Leiken Vik Samtidig, I et parallelt univers, del 2 (2010) Painting on polycarbonate, powder coated aluminum KORO Location: Sigurd Køhns hus/ Building K
Marianne Lund is an architect and a visual artist. Her project The Beauty of the consequencelines and corrections is the starting point for the decorations found at Campus Kristiansand. The project started with drawings. The artist describes it as “geometry meets the body”. “How to draw the perfect circle?” is a question that sheds light on the concept of the project. When drawing, the artist uses a circular disc in which she physically moves around. The result expresses something that is impossible to achieve; the perfect circle, but it gives new variations. The physical part is important to the artist. Her technique has moved on from drawings to oil on aluminum plates. The time aspect is also important, and she continues her project towards larger formats. We can see a transformation in colour, shape and dimension. Through a thorough process she paints lines and corrects an error or a beginning, using the “line follows line” principle. Dots (Corrections) mark an error, i.e. the body’s saturation point and the physical and mental break that is necessary. Alternatively, it is like making a choice according to stop and continuation. At the same time, the errors require the long pigments to hold the line from the beginning to the end, while the short pigments require the paintbrush to be dipped along the process. When it comes to the process itself, the body obeys the artist’s pre-elected choices in a way. The artist decides everything in advance, both format and colour. What occurs along the way is subject to the opportunities and limitations of the body. It is obvious to establish a connection with both performance art and minimalism when describing the project. What you expect is not what you get, the body’s encounter with geometry or the rules. Furthermore, the project can be viewed in the light of a “hands-on” tendency in art. This means that the craft and the material are examined “by hand” and shows immanent power and possibilities. Marianne Lund shows interest in the space, and optical use and possibilities of the materials. It is obvious to associate it with the art direction Op-art in regards to perception. The colour pigments provide new and unusual optical effects. “It is exciting to see how the color pigments change in different ways,” says the artist.
Photo: private
Marianne Lund
Marianne Lund Remember Me (2010) Oil painting on aluminum plates KORO Location: Sigurd Køhns hus / Building K
Mari Slaattelid Åsne og Malin med vatn / Åsne og Malin med mjølk (2000) Photography KORO Location: Building D
Photo: private
Mari Slaattelid
Mari Slaattelid (born 1960) is a Norwegian contemporary artist. Slaattelid mainly works with paintings, but is known for mixing elements from photography and various references from art history. She is educated at Bergen College of Arts and Crafts (1979-1983), Art Academy of Bergen (1985-1987) and the National College of Fine Arts in Oslo (1987-1989). She has also completed a one-year course in art history at the University of Bergen. At Campus Kristiansand, Mari Slaattelid is included in the KORO collection with the following three photographs: Protective, Åsne og Malin med mjølk and Åsne og Malin med vatn. Protective 1-4 (2000) consists of four photographs where Slaattelid photographed her daughter in a classic frontal portrait position. We sense defiance and pride, but also melancholy, emptiness and vulnerability. The young girl’s face is covered in an adult woman’s facial mask. What is the message? Is there a message? Is there a link between make-up and art? Should make-up and art beautify reality? Cover up or counterfeit? Should the facial cream emphasise the surface or protect the skin? To consider contemporary art is about asking questions and trying to understand the relationship between art and society. Several galleries and museums have bought Slaattelid’s art, including the Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art and the Museum of Contemporary Art. She won the Carnegie Art Award in 2000.
Mari Slaattelid, Protective 1-4 (2000), Photography, KORO Location: Building D
Marius Martinussen Shattered (2017) Acrylic on canvas UiA’s art collection Location: A6, the principal’s office
Photo: private
Marius Martinussen
The painting is abstract with bright colours that may give associations to the large city’s neon signs and graffiti. At the same time, nature is an obvious sight in the colourful paintings. A duality between culture and nature. Marius Martinussen was born in Arendal in 1978 and graduated from Trondheim Art Academy in 2004. His artworks have been displayed at several group exhibitions both in Norway and in Germany. The paintings are in general described as holding references to the popular culture, but at the same time, other art historical references are present. These include American pop art, expressionism and street art. Earlier productions give associations to the 1990s Japanese art form “Tokyo Pop”. The Japanese artist Takashi Murakami (born 1962) is fascinated by American pop art and Andy Warhol’s cutting edge fascination with the media culture. In light of the crossover mentality that took place on the international art scene in the 1990s, the high cultures and the popular cultures are united in diffuse borderlines. Manga and anime are united with American and Japanese tradition. Media usually name Andy Warhol as one of Marius Martinussen’s idols, but maybe Japan’s answer to Andy Warhol, Takashi Murakami, is a better reference? The catalogue/book “Marius Martinussen” published in 2005 through a collaboration with Sørlandets Kunstmuseum, presents parts of the production from 2003-2005. The introduction mentions pop art as a reference, but only the western. Do we, however, also see a Japanese pop cultural side of the artistry? For instance, the artwork Hunted (acrylic on canvas, 2005) gives associations to Takashi Murakami.
Just like Martinussen’s general fascination with the popular cultural expression, Takashi Murakami is a pioneer within Tokyo Pop. He is educated in traditional Japanese painting, but has since been interested in the popular cultural field otaku culture. The Japanese word otaku refers to a person with an obsession for manga and anime. Marius Martinussen refers to the art history and uses many facets in his artistry, as the catalogue from 2005 describes. In his fascination with big cities and graffiti, manga elements are obvious, which is also a great source of inspiration for graffiti artists. Nature is important to Marius Martinussen. Flowerpicture (2003) can be associated with the Japanese traditional style of painting “nihonga”, but at the same time he has removed himself from the strict formalism, as has Tokyo pop artists. Since 2010, the artist has changed his expression into a more abstract one. We can still see references to graffiti, but the general impression is more sublime. In recent years, the painting has come to the attention of the artists again, and the craft has come into focus. Seeking the roots of the national romanticism and the neo-romanticism is a common trend in art. It might seem natural to read Marius Martinussen’s abstract formalistic paintings with this in mind.
Mette Steinsland Uten tittel (2003) Drawing on wall KORO Location: The Cafeteria
Ørjan Moen Møte (2018) Mural UiA’s art collection Location: Meeting room, Building D
Michael Bowen Love (1957) and The Miracle of Humanity (1964) Painting UiA’s art collection (The Beat Art Collection) Location: Vrimlehallen
The University of Agder and Kristiansand Cathedral School own the world’s largest collection of Michael Bowen’s works. The newest, The Miracle of Humanity, was purchased by the University of Agder in 2009. The painting is different from the rest of Bowen’s works in the Wennesland collection. Therefore, it is an important contribution in order to give a complete impression of Bowen as an artist. The other works in the collection consist of abstract, unclear color studies and mostly figurative portraits, but also collages and sketches. The Miracle of Humanity, however, shows us a more spiritual, visionary and metaphysical painter. The painting attended the Whitney Museum of American Art’s important Beat exhibition in 1995, “Beat Culture and the New America 1950-1965”. Now it is on permanent display at the University of Agder. Michael Bowen (1937-2009) belonged to the Beat Generation in the neighbourhood of North Beach in San Francisco in the late 1950s. The movement was characterised by riots against the established truths of the society, drug experiments and exploration of individual creativity. Bowen’s father was a prosperous dentist from Beverly Hills, LA, but Bowen still ran away when he was 16 years old in order to find his own way of life. He wanted to search for other answers in what life had to offer, except money, power and status. The Miracle of Humanity is a good example of the search for other values than what post-war USA had to offer. A search that often put the Beat Generation’s artists and poets in contact with the mysticism and spirituality of the East and the study of Hinduism, Buddhism and Zen.
Photo: private
Michael Bowen
In 1964 Bowen painted The Miracle of Humanity while he was on a journey in Mexico with the artist Arthur Monroe. The painting is not inspired by Mexico, though, but clearly inspired by Buddhist meditation rugs, called Thangkas. The painting shows a glowing, bell-shaped Buddha figure surrounded by a pink mandala. The figure sits in the lotus position, with no arms. This is a contrast to the traditional Buddha figures from the thangkas, which often have dozens of arms with different attributes pointing from the body. The traditional figures we know often have introspective, introvert, dreamy and meditative looks, while Michael Bowen’s Buddha figure stares directly at us with wide-open clear blue eyes. The lines and coloured areas of the body are vague and translucent in order to emphasise the spiritual character of the figure, while the spine pulses in rhythmic coloured areas. The face is surrounded by a glowing golden halo on a dramatic black background. This puts emphasis on the focus of the composition. Flame-like lotus flowers are carved into the background, a symbol of purity. In the figure’s heart we sense the ritual dagger (phurba) that channels power in the same way mantras do (powerful sounds used in meditation, among others). Below the figure, Bowen alternates between decoratively painted mushrooms and skulls, like a gloomy vanitas subject. Skulls are a common symbol of death in traditional Buddhist iconography. The mushrooms, on the other hand, most likely refer to the hallucinogenic Mexican mushrooms the artists of the Beat Generation famously used in order to get stoned. Obviously, the painting has a clear meditative function. When sitting in front of it, one would enter into a spiritual state thanks to the painting’s clear symbolic imagery. The mediation concerning the Buddha figure, the lotus flower, the dagger, the skulls and the mushrooms lets us take part in the Buddha figure’s depths.
Tom Lid Piano (2016) Oil painting UiA’s art collection Location: Sigurd Køhns hus/ Building K
Tom Sandberg Tom Sandberg (1953-2014) is a Norwegian visual artist and photographer. Sandberg started working as a photographer in the 1970s and was considered one of Norway’s most central contemporary artists. Unfortunately, he passed away in 2014. In 2001, KORO purchased the photograph exhibited at UiA. We cannot see the face, but the hairstyle makes us assume it is a woman. The picture raises questions with the observer: Who is she? Where is she? Why can we not see her face? We do not see the whole situation and we do not know what has just happened and what will happen next. Generally, a portrait is defined as a picture or a portrayal of a certain human being and its individual features. In visual art, this mainly includes the face, while in literature, the internal and external characteristics are described. Although many portrayals try to recreate the model as correctly and similarly as possible, all portrayals are more or less deliberate interpretations of the personality or the role. Portraiture has always been of current interest and particularly controversial. Contrary to other visual art genres, “everyone” seems to have an opinion about the portrait genre. What causes this great interest? For a long time the main purpose of the genre was to be a marker for class-consciousness and status. The portrait painting was expensive and reserved for the upper classes. This changed when photographs made its entry. Lately there has been a democratisation of the portrait genre, and “everyone” can have their portrait made. Tom Sandberg breaks with the conventional way of making portraits, and therefore challenges the genre. Hair has a long symbolic tradition as a sign of something feminine, erotic and sensual. Waving locks of hair can refer to untamed nature, while meticulous braids undermine the wildness in a civilisable way. The portrait at UiA resembles a basic duplicity. We see a traditional feminine attribute and consider it as something else attractive, though it is not necessarily connected to women exclusively.
Tom Sandberg, Portrett (1999), Photography – gelatin silver on aluminium plate, KORO Location: Lilletunstova
Trond Nicholas Perry Unitled (2017) Collage UiA’s art collection Location: Breakroom, Building D3
Mette Tronvoll (born 1965) is a Norwegian photographer educated at the Parsons School of Design in 1992. She was appointed a government scholar in the Norwegian state budget in 2016. Tronvoll is known for the portraits of Queen Sonja, which was painted in 2013 and exhibited at the National Museum in 2014. Earlier projects include portraits of women from Trondheim (1994), soldiers from Rena Camp (2006), portraits of Inuit and Mongolians, the series Goto Fukue, which shows women gathering seaweed on a Japanese beach, and pictures form Svalbard. What is a human being? Mette Tronvoll asks this question as a basis through her production of photographs for the last 25 years. In George, Müritz National Park, the model appears with a very powerful presence in the room. The man in the forest, George, looks directly at the viewer. Humans are mostly placed right in front of the camera and have time, space, and opportunity to present and represent themselves in the photography moment. According to Trond Borgen in kunstkritikk.no (10.12.09), it is almost impossible to interpret these photographic portraits without looking at them through the texts of Roland Barthes and Susan Sontag. We only experience a pseudo-presence. The photographs are also symbols of absence, and death is incorporated in every picture, like a memento mori. This melancholy is just one of many references in Tronvoll’s works. The photograph shows strong evidence of documentation and is not manipulated afterwards. Tronvoll wants to capture the meeting with the portrayed person in his or her natural context, which is a necessary condition for the artist in order to make the pictures trustworthy and close to the viewer.
Photo: private
Mette Tronvoll
Mette Tronvoll George, Müritz National Park (2000) Photography, C-print on photo paper KORO Location: Building I
Kirsti van Hoegee Mellom steiner (2017) Photography UiA’s art collection Location: Building H
Photo: private
Kirsti van Hoegee
Kirsti van Hoegee (born 1975) lives and works in Bergen. Kirsti van Hoegee has a BA in Photography and an MA in Fine Art from Bergen Academy of Arts and Design. She works with a range of expressions, often with the photograph as a starting point. In her most recent art projects, she has examined aspects and drawn parallels between the behaviour of insects and the increasing use of artificial light on the planet. In the art project exhibited in the H-building, she visually examines the human relationship with the universe. How has it changed in correlation with the progress of photography and the entry of the light? The artist reflects on the question of what it means to us humans when we lose the possibility to see a starry sky.
Kirsti van Hoegee Mellom steiner (2017) Photography UiA’s art collection Location: Building H
Photo: private
Anna Marie S. Gudmundsdottir
Anna Marie Sigmond Gudmundsdottir (born 1974 in Reykjavik) is educated at the Bergen Academy of Art and Design (1994-2000). She has had solo exhibitions and participated in several group exhibitions in Norway and abroad. Her most recent solo exhibition was in the Dropsfabrikken Gallery in Trondheim in May-June 2019. The artist has executed several public decorations, and the artworks are purchased by public collections like the art collection of Oslo municipality, DNB and for UiA’s art collection at the new top floor of building G3. Anna Marie Sigmond Gudmundsdottir works with installation, photography, painting and drawing. Her expression resembles traces and lines of a landscape. When describing how she works with the drawings and paintings, she says that she starts with her experience of landscapes, which is a transformer for her internal processes, both urban and rural landscapes. The starting point is memories and experiences where she focuses on a view or a place that becomes an understanding and a part of an abstract memory. The paintings and drawings are bridges between the real world and the mental world, where memories from various landscapes alter character and volume after the physical experience occurred. The material experience is marginal, but what it leaves behind is in constant movement and change. The artist is interested in drawing as an instrument for inner mental processes with memories and experiences as starting points, where what you do not see in a picture can become more important than what you see.
Anna Marie Sigmond Gudmundsdottir, LANZAROTE SA (2019), Painting, UiA’s art collection Location: Building G
Vigdis Fjellheim wants to create murals that can be a visual enrichment in a room. In addition, the subject adapts to a location where knowledge, learning and specialisation is the main focus. The themes in her artwork circle around current challenges of the world, regardless of subject and discipline. The eco systems on Earth have changed faster the last hundred years than ever before in humanity. It is more important than ever with knowledge and information that gives us an understanding of the connections and aspects of our planet. The large aspen forest in Fishlake National Park in Utah, USA, is called “The trembling giant”. Pando tree means “I spread out” and the forest is considered one living organism where every tree has identical genetic material. All originate from the same ancient root system, created by one seed 80,000 years ago and today considered the world’s heaviest and oldest living organism. In the sketches, the artist has used elements that are intertwined into something complete. The new building at UiA has a long continuous row of windows with 14 oblong floor to ceiling windows. These dimensions can be found again as components or building blocks in the murals. The pictures show an extensive use of stencils, silhouettes and a negative/positive shape adapted to the theme. It is something to dive into, to become absorbed in and to interact with.
Photo: private
Vigdis Fjellheim
Vigdis Fjellheim, Uten tittel (2019), mural, UiA’s art collection, Location: Building F3
Trond Nicholas Perry Hoppeslott (2017) Collage UiA’s art collection Location: Sigrid Undsets hus/ Building 46
© University of Agder/2021 For more information about the UiA’s art collection, go to: uia.no/en/about-uia/organisation/the-art-collection Design: BRKLYN Photograpy: Hugo Skarsten Larsen / BRKLYN Translation: Cecilie Nilsen
Photograpy: Hugo Skarsten Larsen / BRKLYN