EXHIBITIONSMarhaug has taken part in numerous group exhibitions, localy, national and international. She has also produced solo shows since 1990, both in Norway and in other European coutries. In adition her practice includes curatorial exhibition projects.
Documentation from the exhibition Confession with Anne Helen Mydland, Morten Kvamme, Tove Tømmerberg Audience in front of Marhaug's wallpaper work Salon Akademii in Warszawa October 2010 |
THE TILT OF THE EART (VERDEN VELTER)
Duo exhibition at Galleri Langegaarden, Bergen, Norway October -24 Nedreaas and Marhaug have created a joint project for this exhibition consisting of film, photography and sculpture. Nedreaas has made a new film inspired by Marhaug's universe. The film idea is to direct a feminist lens on the myth of Sisyphus and using various elements and symbols from folklore, fairy tales and mythology in the storyline. Marhaug has the role of a mythical being on her way up the mountain. Along the way, she meets challenges and experiences and goes through various bodily transformations. Props for the film have been adapted from Marhaug's previous performances, while others have been made especially for the film by Marhaug and Nedreaas. Imagination, play and intensive work have given direction and form to both film and objects. The project is produced in the summer of 2024 and the film was shot at Landåsfjellet. At the exhibition opening at Galleri Langegaarden, the public could experience a new performance specially produced for this project. |
VEVRINGUTSTILLINGA
2024 19th-22nd of September 2024 Group exhibition in Vevring, Norway showing my collection of HANDGJORT (hand made), wooden sculptures made of Sitka spruce, including 2 hanging hands with mink fure and dripping oil. Each of the 3 days a new performance is given. https://vevringutstillinga.no/ Photo: Rita Marhaug |
TRYKK I SANNTID 05: KARBONPULS
Galleri Nord-Norge opening 29th of August - 27th of October 2024 Group exhibition with: Kjellaug Hatlen Lunde Rita Marhaug Åse Anda Dominika Kemilä Lise Anita Stenberg Part of the show is also five collective works produced over the last five years of the project Print in Real Time (trykk i sanntid). These works holds the individual contributions of 60 artists from 10 print workshops along the Norwegian coast. https://www.gallerinn.no/utstilling/karbonpuls/ |
ALT ENDAR, ALT BYRJAR
(everything ends, everything begins) Solo exhibition at Vedholmen Galleri, (NO) 6th of April - 5th of May 2024 https://www.vedholmen-galleri.net/ritamarhaug-separatutstilling 2024 In recent years, I have tried to give a poetic, visual expression of inscribing our bodies in the global, carbon-driven economy. In the work series "Norwegian Liquid», I use the body as an expression of ambivalence and dissonance in depictions of power and powerlessness. Norway stands out as a country of untouched nature. At the same time, we are the seventh largest petroleum exporter in the world. The individual finds himself in the gap between traditional frugality with roots in rural Norway and the borderless international post-industrial infotainment society. A maximum contrast, both visually and linguistically, can be found between black and white. The skin is the interface between the individual and the world, culture and nature, the black crude oil and the white coral beach. Clear use of materials has gained an important place in my art in recent years reflecting my values: I have worked a lot with simple (natural) elements such as shells, wood, leather, plants and various natural liquids in installations and performances. IN EVERYTHING ENDS, EVERYTHING BEGINS, the visitor will find prints made directly from land and sea plants in the form of pictures and a book, a video and sculptures made from Sitka fir. The exhibition also have an installation where dripping oil is an element. Opening day -6. April and the last day of the exhibition, May 5, I will do a performance in the gallery. I think of the exhibition as a form of abstract storytelling through concrete examples. NORSK Dei siste åra har eg prøvd å gje innskrivinga av kroppane våre i den globale, karbondrivne økonomien eit poetiske, visuelle uttrykk. I verkserien «Norwegian Liquid» nyttar eg kroppen som uttrykk for ambivalens og dissonans i skildringar av makt og avmakt. Noreg står fram som eit land av urørd natur. Me er samstundes den sjuande største petroleumseksportøren i verda. Individet finn seg i spennet mellom tradisjonell nøysemd med røter i bygdenoreg og det grenselause internasjonale postindustrielle infotainmentsamfunnet. Ein maksimal kontrast både visuelt og språkleg finn ein mellom svart og kvitt. Huda er grensesnittet mellom individet og verda, kultur og natur, den svarte råolja og den kvite korallstranda. Tydeleg materialbruk har fått ein viktig plass i kunsten min dei seinare åra og speglar verdigrunnlaget mitt: Eg har arbeidd mykje med enkle (natur)element som skjell, tre, lær, plantar og ulike naturlege væsker i installasjonar og performancar. I ALT ENDAR, ALT BYRJAR vil tilskodaren mellom anna møte avtrykk laga direkte frå land og sjøplanar i form av bilete og bok, ein video og skulpturar forma av sitkagran. Utstillinga vil og ha ein installasjon der dryppande olje er eit element. Opningsdagen -6. april og siste dag av utstillinga 5. mai, vil eg gjere performancar i galleriet. Eg tenkjer på utstillinga som ei form for abstrakt forteljing gjennom konkrete døme. Curator Vibeke Harild Photo: Bjarte Bjørkum |
Trykk i sanntid 04: KARBONSYKLUS
Torsdag 1. februar 2024 har vi gleda av å opne utstillinga TRYKK I SANNTID 04: KARBONSYKLUS. Utstillinga er resultat av samarbeid mellom grafikkverkstadane Tou Trykk i Stavanger, Kunstkvarteret trykk i Lofoten, Foreningen Trykkeriet i Bergen, Prima Ink i Tronsø, Aggregat i Ålesund, Lademoen grafikkverkstad i Trondheim, Snefjord atelier, Universitetet i Agder og dei tre kunstnarane Elin Kjøsnes, Bent Erik Myrvoll og Rita Marhaug. I 2019 tok Kjellaug Hatlen Lunde -som har bygga opp Kunstkvarteter trykk, initiativ til det femårige prosjektet Trykk i sanntid. Ynskje var å skape kontakt mellom trykkeverkstadar og kunstnarar langs kysten. I fjor på årets lysaste dag, kom 16 kunstnarar saman i Stavanger, Bergen, Ålesund, Lofoten og Kristiansand. Tema var karbonsyklus og målet var å skape innhald til ei trekkspelbok. Denne, i lag med boka KARBONAVTRYKK frå 2020, porteføljen KARBONFANGST frå 2021 og bokrullen KARBONLAGRING frå 2022 er basen for denne utstillinga der og tre av kunstnarane er invitert til å skape nye verk til Bruksrommet. Karbonsyklus er eit omgrep med sentral plass i miljø- og klimadebatten. Sjølve stoffet – grunnstoffet karbon: C, er dessutan ein grunnfaktor i biletkunsten si materielle historie, som sverte, maling og blyant. Dess mer kunstnargruppa arbeidde oss inn i tema, dess klårare sto det for oss at karbon er byggjesteinen i det meste av livet på jorda: frå fotosyntesen, -som omdanner Co2 til oksygen så vi får puste, til maten vi et for å leve. Karbon i rein form kan være både kull/sot, grafitt og diamant. Det er berre få veker sidan FNs klimatoppmøte i Dubai der deltakarlanda mellom anna samla seg om å fase ut energi frå karbonkjelder fram mot 2050. Som andre samfunnsgrupper er og kunstnarane uroa over klimautviklinga. Vi kan ikkje gje tekniske eller politiske løysingar til dette feltet, men vonar at våre kunstverk kan bringe poetisk refleksjon rundt dette eksistensielle tema. Utstillinga har eit mangfald av uttrykk i dei mange trykka i tillegg til nyskapa installasjon, objekt og videoverk. OM TRYKK I SANNTID Årlege utgåver av kunstnarbøker/portfoliar er ein viktig del av det 5-årige prosjektet «Trykk i sann-tid» initiert av Kunstkvarteret trykk (KK-trykk) i 2019. Den fyrste publikasjonen var KARBONAVTRYKK (2020), den andre porteføljeboksen KARBONFANGST (2022), den tredje bokrullen KARBONLAGRING og den fjerde trekkspelboka KARBONSYKLUS frå 2023. TRYKK I SANNTID fokuserer på problemstillingar vi finn aktuelle for vårt fagområde i kombinasjon med generelle tendensar i tida. Kvart år har kunstnarane (deltakarane varierer frå år til år), - på årets lysaste dag, i mindre grupper samla seg for å gjere ei trykke-hending med eit gitt tema. Dokumentasjonen vert samla og lagt ut samstundes - i sanntid - på: https://www.trykkisanntid.no/ https://www.facebook.com/Kunstkvarteret https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/trykkisanntid2020/ https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/trykkisanntid2021/ The exhibition project is supported by: Stavanger Municipality, Bergesenstiftelsen, Regionale prosjektmidler fra Kunstsentrene i Norge, Billedkunstnernes Vederlagsfond, Nordland fylkeskommune Photo: Bent Erik Myrvoll, pictures with audience; Rita Marhaug |
INTIMATED STRUCTURES
A group exhibition at Palacio de Bellas Artes, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Dec-23 until Feb-24. The exhibition «Intimated Structures» is a direct response to the curatorial project «Whisper» by curators María Elen Ditrén and Juan Carlos Ditrén (CulturArte Dominicana), showed at Rogaland Kunstsenter a year ago. The overall project is developed specifically for the exhibition collaboration between Rogaland Kunstsenter and Palacio De Bellas Artes, of 2021-2024. The Norwegian part is curated by Jane Sverdrupsen. Fellow artists: Ingvild Melberg Eikeland Gro De-Martine Lars Korff Lofthus Vegard Ekberg Photos: Rita Marhaug Palacio De Galería Nacional del Palacio de Bellas Artes |
CARVING THE LANDSCAPE
Gedok Galerie, Stuttgart Germany 20th of September until 30th of September 2023 Participants from Norway: Kjellaug Hatlen Lunde and Rita Marhaug from Germany: Studio 3000 (Traci Kelly, Christian Eickhoff, Julia Wenz-Delaminsky) At the opening evening the performance Force Nature, Live-Skin-Etching by Traci Kelly took place for 60 min in collaboration with Elle Short. Carving the Landscape is the culminating exhibition of (print) works from Norwegian artists Rita Marhaug, Bergen and Kjellaug Hatlen Lunde, Lofoten, and Stuttgart artists Julia Wenz, Christian Eickhoff and Traci Kelly. The artists have instigated and shaped a cultural, print making project that shares ideas, processes and thinking. In 2022, Marhaug and Hatlen-Lunde were artists in residence at Gedok in Stuttgart and began a rich body of work. The making part of the exchange were completed in June 2023 when Wenz, Eickoff and Kelly were artists in residence at Kunstkvarteret, Lofoten. Here, all artist completed a defining body of related work. The exhibition tries to reflect upon the economies of energy, the body and the landscape. It takes into account the threat of fossil fuel exploration that endangers the 1000 year old Lofoten cod industry and also the energy that the body is subject to during the circadian extremes of Lofoten’s midnight sun. In addition, the German context augments with ideas of strata and gouging in the landscape bringing to mind print making processes, and also the troubled history of coal-mining. Germany’s large deposits of brown coal contributes to climate warming and degraded human health. Even so, its lure continues to pull, whilst in April 2023 all German nuclear power stations were powered down, without clear long- term solutions to radioactive waste disposal. The exhibition in Gedok Galerie, presents to the public a nuanced, poetic and political exploration of the landscape and the body at the juncture of the Anthropocene, marked by the continuing human need for energy. In the quest to solve carbon emissions, wind, solar and hydro systems create new environmental challenges through shifting effects into other critical areas. Elemental energy, carved flesh and breath will offer audiences a glimpse into dynamic processes. In addition to paper-based works, performance, video and sound renditions will disturb the boundaries of what may be considered print-making. Photo: Rita Marhaug |
Høstutstillingen
(The annual National Art Exhibition) Group exhibition at at Kunstnernes hus,September and October 2023 The video work Fatet (The Barrel) Duration: 7:10 min From the critic Mona Pahle Bjerke: Livsvæskene i kroppen og jorden Det første som møter meg, er filmverket «Fatet», som vises i restauranten. Verket er en del av Rita Marhaugs performanceserie «Norwegian liquid». Her ser vi kunstneren stå naken på en korallstrand i et vakkert landskap i Lofoten. På stranden står det et badekar fylt til randen med skinnende blank olje. Kunstneren senker seg ned i oljen, og den nakne huden blir langsomt farget svart, før hun etter hvert stiger opp igjen. Marhaug er opptatt av de skjulte kildene i mennesket, som blod, melk og urin, men også de som finnes i jordens indre, som olje og gass. I filmen blir huden et møte mellom det indre og det ytre – med klare bilder refererer hun til naturens prekære sårbarhet. Hun benytter badekaret og havet, som et bilde på renselse, men forvandler her badet til noe som tilgriser, snarer enn å vaske. Den blanke, svarte oljen fjerner alle kjennetegn, og hun forvandles til en slags menneskehetsrepresentant; som et bilde på livet på jorden, der hun sitter alene i havgapet. https://www.nrk.no/anmeldelser/anmeldelse_-hostutstillingen-2023-1.16547794 |
«FATET»: Referansen til AK Dolvens ikoniske verk med den skulpturelle, nakne kvinnekroppen mot horisonten er åpenbar. Men siden hun bringer inn oljen som et tilleggselement blir dette mye mer enn noen parafrase. Hun benytter badekaret og havet, som et bilde på renselse og dåp, men her forvandles badet til noe som tilgriser snarer enn å vaske ren. Photo: Bjarte Bjørkum |
CARVING THE LANDSCAPE
Stuttgart – Lofoten Artist exchange Artists in residence at Kunstkvarteret from June to July 2023 Participants from Norway: Kjellaug Hatlen Lunde and Rita Marhaug from Germany: Studio 3000 (Traci Kelly, Christian Eickhoff, Julia Wenz-Delaminsky) Exhibition opening, 2. July 2023 Kunstkvarteret gallery Hagskarveien 82, 8370 Leknes, Norwegen https://kunstkvarteretlofoten.no https://www.trykkisanntid.no/ Works by Kjellaug Hatlen Lunde above, Rita Marhaug below Photos: Traci Kelly |
HENDELSER VED HAV (Incidents by the sea)
is an exhibition that presents artworks by 6 artists living in Western and Northern Norway / Sápmi, opening on the 8th of March at 8pm at Gyldenpris Kunsthall, Bergen: Agnete Tangrand Elin Már Øyen Vister Hanne Grete Einarsen Fernanda Chieco Rita Marhaug Terese Longva STATEMENT We are visual artists currently researching materials and subjects related to rural contexts, as opposed to the urban and new technology, which often dominate contemporary culture. Not just the theme, but also our choices of places to live have deeply influenced our production. Modernity versus tradition and cultivation versus nature are the common themes for the works displayed at the exhibition. We intend to create a space of reflection for the viewers to experience a productive interface between past and future. Without being sentimental or nostalgic, we intend to present a broader picture of our lives, here and now. BACKGROUND We all have developed artistic practice on a varied range of materials and techniques. Longva has an education in glass art, while Tangrand has delved into textile and ceramic materials and processes. For many years, Einarsen has worked with printmaking, drawing and installations, while Øyen Vister has investigated sound as theirs main subject linked to theirs interest in coastal nature and landscapes. Chieco primarily has a painting practice where the support for the image is an important source of meanings. Marhaug has been working with printmaking and performance for three decades. Every artist in the exhibition is connected to Bergen through education, work or as inhabitants of the city for shorter or longer periods. After many years, Longva has moved back to Nordøyane near Ålesund where she grew up. Tangrand has settled in Lofoten, where she comes from, while Marhaug lives in Bergen and has a family background from the island of Austevoll. Einarsen lives in Snefjord in Finnmark, where she and her partner share a studio in a former boarding school. Øyen Vister has settled in Røst where, among other things she also runs Skomvær AiR. Chieco, originally from Brazil, -with a short stop in Bergen, chose to settle in the fjord village of Holmedal in Sunnfjord two years ago. The exhibition Hendelser ved hav refers to both body, time and place. In recent years, Longva has worked with the management of our communal natural resources. Tangrand has a close relationship with materials that merged from her childhood into her practice of art. Through combinations of painting and embroidery, she clearly identifies herself in a tradition and place. Einarsen’s prints and installations have allowed her Sami background to be expressed through her choice of materials and use of objects such as the “lineklave” (fishing line) that holds a self-portrait on paper. Øyen Vister has particularly explored natural and cultural loss linked to coastal life forms through sound and object installations. Chieco has lived in several places along the Norwegian coast and in recent years has worked with motifs related to those places. Supports such as fish skin and seaweed paper form new stories along with the images. For more than ten years, Marhaug has worked with the body's inclusion in the oil economy. During Hendelser ved hav, she will present the installation Fløt og ile, which contains a blend of traditional tools and abstract elements. Hendelser ved hav intend to present new images of belonging without falling into nostalgia or dystopia. Our works are based on experience and we focus on how art can represent our life choices; both the material and the political. Equally important is the art’s own topic: fantasy and imagination. Organized by Rita Marhaug Photos: Tonje Bø Birkeland |
RØYND OG KJENSLE (REALITY AND EMOTION)
Duo exhibition with Terese Longva and Rita Marhaug at KABUSO, Øystese, Norway, opening 28th of January untill 23rd of April 2023 NORWEGIAN LIQUID An important theme in Marhaug's long artist career is our carbon-driven economy. She seeks to give the inscription of our bodies into this carbon game poetic, visual expressions in the form of performances, pictures, video, artist's books and installations. NORWEGIAN LIQUID is the overall title of a series of works started in 2009. In Norwegian Liquid, the artist uses her body to express her ambivalence and dissonance in depictions of power and powerlessness. Norway stands out as a country of untouched nature. At the same time, we are the seventh largestexporter of petroleum in the world. The individual finds herself in the gap between traditional frugality with roots in rural Norway and the borderless international post-industrial infotainment society. Marhaug’s intension is to show how the individual body is woven into the global economy driven by carbon burning. A maximum contrast, both visually and linguistically, can be found between black and white. The skin is the interface between the individual and the world, culture and nature, the black crude oil and the white coral beach. Ownership to the natural resourses of the nation and the local commueties has during the laste decades had a growing focus. This applies to everything from the fish in the sea to the wind over the plains, the ore in the mountains and the oil in the seabed. The energy crisis of the past year is the closest complex that points to the many layers of power and powerlessness linked to a common good. Photos: Bjarte Bjørkum |
print in real time 03: CARBON STORAGE
at Norwegian Printmakers' Gallery in Oslo Daniel Persson, Hilde Rosenberg Bamarni, Kjellaug Hatlen Lunde and Solveig Landa 5 January – 11 February Organized and curated by Rita Marhaug in collaboration with Kjellaug Hatlen Lunde and Åse Anda Print in real time is a five-year project, initiated in 2019 by the artists Åse Anda, Kjellaug Hatlen Lunde and Rita Marhaug. From the start and in the following years, artists and graphics workshops are invited to participate in the project, all with one common theme: carbon. Carbon footprint, carbon capture and carbon storage are familiar terms and issues that affect us all, including artists and their artistic practice. Carbon is most often mentioned in connection with the environmental challenges that are part of today's reality. But the picture is more nuanced, in addition to being a threat in the climate context, carbon is an absolutely essential element in all known forms of life. It is an indispensable building block in all life on earth, it is part of photosynthesis which converts CO2 into oxygen so we can breathe and in the food we eat to live. The Trykk i sanntid project came about with a desire to create contact between graphic workshops and artists along our coast, from Stavanger in the south to Snefjord in the north. For artists who work in the vulnerable coastal areas, environmental and climate issues became a natural theme in the group's artistic project. Carbon, in all its forms, from coal, graphite, diamond and soot, became the focal point for the project, which has aimed to give poetic expression to carbon's inscrutable paths. In recent years, artists have met on the brightest day of the year to work on this joint project. In 2021, the project brought together 22 artists distributed among the cities of Stavanger, Bergen, Ålesund, Trondheim, Lofoten and Tromsø. The topic was carbon storage and the aim was to create a common scroll. Together with the book KARBONAVTRYKK from 2020 and the portfolio box KARBONFANGST from 2022, the scroll KARBONLAGRING is the foundation for the exhibition that opens at Norske Grafikere on 5 January. In addition, the artists Daniel Persson, Hilde Rosenberg Bamarni, Kjellaug Hatlen Lunde and Solveig Landa have been specially invited to create new works on the occasion of the exhibition. Photos: Rita Marhaug |
SIGLA - BINDA
ICELANDIC PRINTMAKING ASSOCIATION GALLERY, REYKJARVIK, ICELAND 16. jun - 18. jul 2022 SIGLA - BINDA is a cross-border collaboration, established after the Norwegian book art group Codex Polaris (CP) and the Icelandic book art group Arkir met at North Bay Letterpress Arts (NBLA) in California during the Nordic participation at CODEX 2019: America's largest book fair for "the handmade book as work of art". The terms binda and sigla – which we have chosen as the title for our project, are two of many common words between Norwegian and Icelandic. They have both concrete and abstract meanings related to our existence, to the sea that binds us together, and to the historical ties between our nations. Marhaug contributed with a new object from the sereis STELLA POLARIS, a circular shaped book with the diameter of 24 cm, and a sculptural base. Aritsts: Nanna Gunhild Amstrup, Kristin Thóra Guðbartsdóttir, Solveig Landa, Rita Marhaug, Svanborg Matthíasdóttir, Imi Maufe, Ingiríður Óðinsdóttir, Anna Snædís Sigmarsdóttir, Sigurborg Stefánsdóttir, Randi Annie Strand Photos: Rita Marhaug |
trykk i sanntid 02: KARBONFANGST
(print in real time 02: CARBON CAPTURE) 12-15th of May 2022 Mottaket in Ålesund, Norway The exhibition is a collaboration between the graphic workshops Kunstkvarteret print in Lofoten, Foreningen Trykkeriet in Bergen, Tou Trykk in Stavanger, Aggregat in Ålesund, Snefjord atelier and the four artists Hilde Rosenberg Bamarni, Randi Morstøl Emblem, Åse Anda, Kjetil Berge and the poet Jon Ståle Ritland In 2019, Kjellaug Hatlen Lunde – who has built up Kunstkvarteter printshop, took the initiative for the five-year project Print in real time. The desire was to create contact between printing workshops and artists along the coast, from Stavanger in the south to Snefjord in the north. Last year on the brightest day of the year, 17 artists came together in Stavanger, Bergen, Ålesund, Lofoten and Snefjord. The theme was carbon capture and the goal was to create a portfolio box. The portfolio in teams with the book CARBON PRINTS from 2020 is the basis for this exhibition. In adition five of the artists have been invited to create new works for Mottaket. Carbon capture is a concept with a central place in the environmental and climate debate. The substance itself – carbon, C, is also a basic factor in the material history of the visual arts, such as paint, ink and pencil. The more the artist group worked into the theme, the clearer it became to the members that carbon is the building block in most of life on earth: from photosynthesis, which converts CO2 to oxygen so we can breathe, to the food we eat to live. Carbon in pure form can be both coal / soot, graphite and diamond. It is only a few weeks since the UN Climate Panel presented the last part of its sixth report, where the world’s handeling of carbon is the topic. Like other social groups, artists are also concerned with the climate change. We can not provide technical or political solutions to this field, but hope that our works of art can bring poetic reflection on this existential theme. The exhibition has a variety of expressions in the many prints in addition to installation, object, photography and text. ABOUT TRYKK I SANNTID Annual editions of artist books / portfolios are an important part of the 5-year project “trykk i sanntid” initiated by Kunstkvarteter trykk (KK-trykk) in 2019. The first publication was KARBONAVTRYKK finished in September 2020. The second is KARBONFANGST finished in March 2022 and the third will be a scroll, KARBONLAGRING, starting in June 2022. The exhibition is curated and produced by Hatlen Lunde, Anda and Marhaug in collaboration with the participating artists. Photos: Bent Erik Myrvoll |
BRISTOL ART BOOK EVENT Short repport from our stand by Imi Maufe: BABE was a little different this year. For the first time it wasn't held at the Arnolfini in the centre of Bristol, but rather at the Art School Campus - Bower Ashton - which is out of town, but the space was amazing - 108 stands filled room after room. There was less public than usual, but the public that were there were interested and informed about artists books, so they were easy to talk to and very very receptive to the work shown on the Codex Polaris stand. There were many wonderful comments about the quality of Codex Polaris (and the other Nordic stands) and how well the books worked together - one person asked if we all worked together in the same space! People really got something out of looking at and turning the pages of your books. It is amazing to watch different people being drawn into a specific work, and this happened many times through out the weekend. We had a huge table so it was good to be able to give everyone`s books space to breath and be opened. The Codex Polaris stand was part of the Nordic focus curated by CP for the Scandinavian Artists Books Participation Project, of which there were 11 Nordic Stands. SABPP also included a seminar day run by the Art Libraray Association with Librarians from many institutions across Britian attending, and two from the Nordic Countries - Trond from KMD and Mårten from Goteborg University. So a big thank you also to Trond and Mårten for taking part- we hope to engage more librarians in this project thoughtout this year. Some photos on Codex Polaris Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/codexpolaris |
SIGLA – BINDA
Is a cross-border collaboration rooted in the love of artist's books, with ambitions to create art that touches both the mind and the eye. One rainy day in February 2019, the Norwegian book art group Codex Polaris (CP) and the Icelandic book art group Arkir met at North Bay Letterpress Arts (NBLA) in California. However, the history of CPs and Arkir goes further back. Five years ago, we established contact connected to CP's initiative and planning of a joint Nordic participation at CODEX 2019; America's largest book fair for "the handmade book as work of art". In the aftermath of this impressive event, we have stayed in touch having in mind a joint exhibition concept with the book object in the centre. REVIEW IN NUMER AND ARTVIEWER: https://numermagasin.no/kritikk/sigla-binda-eit-samarbeid-over-landegrensene https://artviewer.org/sigla-binda-at-entree/ Marhaug's work for the exhibition: STELLA POLARIS, a colection of circular objects and one artist book. All participating artists: Nanna Gunhild Amstrup Kristin Thora Gudbjartsdottir Solveig Landa Rita Marhaug Svanborg Matthíasdóttir Imi Maufe Ingiríður Óðinsdóttir Anna Snædís Sigmarsdóttir Sigurborg Stefánsdóttir Randi Annie Strand The exhibition is curated and organizes by Randi A Strand and Rita Marhaug Supported by Arts Council Norway Photos: Bjarte Bjørkum |
Kelly|Marhaug|Ojalvo
BORROWED LANDSCAPE Galleri 2, Stamsund, Lofoten, Norway 18th of september until 3rd of November 2021 Borrowed Landscape is the collaborative lens-based project of artists Traci Kelly UK/DE, Rita Marhaug NO and Nisa Ojalvo USA. Over a period of five years, the partners have gathered to make improvised performance encounters related to specific political socio-economic, geographical, animal and mineral histories. Location and artist provocatively reinvent each other through gestures for camera and processes of ‘becoming landscape’ — ‘becoming otherly’. The images are a series of material and visceral interventions, leaving traces on terrains and bodies, marking both as unfixed and mutable. Part One: Norway. During a road trip along Norway’s south to north coastal route the artists stopped to make immediate roadside interventions. This was followed by a week of making work across the length of Vestvågøy, part of the Lofoten archipelago tucked just inside the Arctic Circle. Part Two: UK. During a two-week artist residency at Stiwdio Maelor in Wales, Borrowed Landscape investigated materiality and culture focusing on the local slate and copper mining industries, and the ravaged landscape that remains in a post-industrial era. The geological timeframes that produce petrified forests and form mineral deposits contrast to photographic timeframes that reinvent the landscape and the sited body in fractions of seconds. Part Three: USA. The Mohave desert component explores the politics of water in relation to distribution and relocation through technology and through human bodies. It also plays with ideas around the gilt of the harsh unmediated sun and the lure of gold exemplified in the gambling industry of Las Vegas. Photos of the gallery installation: Kjell Ove Storvik |
KARBONAVTRYKK
trykk i sanntid 01: KARBONAVTRYKK Group exhibition at Fryseriet, Meieret kulturhus Leknes, Lofoten 11-19. September 2021. Artists: Åse Anda, Kjetil Berge, Solveig Landa, Kjellaug Hatlen Lunde, Rita Marhaug, Lise Anita Stenberg, Torgrim Wahl Sund og Agnete Tangrand. Producer: Kjellaug Hatlen Lunde and Rita Marhaug Curator: Rita Marhaug CURATOR STATEMENT (Norwegian language) Utstilinga trykk i sanntid: KARBONAVTRYKK er eit samarbeid mellom grafikkverkstaden Kunstkvarteret trykk og dei 8 kunstnarane Åse Anda, Kjetil Berge, Solveig Landa, Kjellaug Hatlen Lunde, Rita Marhaug, Lise Anita Stenberg, Torgrim Wahl Sund og Agnete Tangrand. I 2019 tok Kjellaug Hatlen Lunde -som har bygga opp Kunstkvarteter trykk, initiativ til det femårige prosjektet Trykk i sanntid. Ynskje var å skape kontakt mellom trykkeverkstadar og kunstnarar langs kysten, frå Stavanger i sør til Snefjord i nord. I fjor på årets lysaste dag, kom 17 kunstnarar saman i Stavanger, Bergen og Lofoten. Tema var karbonavtrykk og målet var å skape ei kunstnarbok i lag. Boka vart startpunktet for denne utstillinga der 8 av kunstnarane i fjor haust vart invitert til å skape nye verk til utstillinga på Meieriet. Karbonavtrykk er eit omgrep med sentral plass i miljø- og klimadebatten. Sjølve stoffet – grunnstoffet karbon, C, er dessutan ein grunnfaktor i biletkunsten si materielle historie, som sverte maling og blyant. Dess mer kunstnargruppa arbeidde oss inn i tema, dess klårare sto det for oss at karbon er byggjesteinen i det meste av livet på jorda: frå fotosyntesen, -som omdanner Co2 til oksygen så vi får puste, til maten vi et for å leve. Karbon i rein form kan være både kull/sot, grafitt og diamant. Det er berre få veker sidan FNs klimapanel presenterte sin sjette rapport, der verda si handsaming av karbon er heilt sentral med tanke på vårt framtidige klima. Som andre samfunnsgrupper er og kunstnarane uroa over klimautviklinga. Vi kan ikkje gje tekniske eller politiske løysingar til dette feltet, men vonar at våre kunstverk kan bringe poetisks refleksjon rundt dette eksistenielle tema. Utstillinga har eit mangfald av uttrykk frå kunstnarbøker, skulpturar, grafiske trykk, fotografi til performance. Til dømes vil publikum møte delar og avtrykk av Solveig Landa si gamle campingvogn, Kjellaug Hatlen Lunde si skulpturelle bok, «Eg eig ikkje ord» og Kjetil Berge sine naive, men alvorstunge fotografi av reflektert sollys. Avtrykk er resultat av press. Trykk mot underlaget. Vekta av vegen ein vel gå. Photos: Kjell Ove Storvik |
ROM FOR BØKER (Room for Books)
A four person exhibition at Kristiansand Kunstahall with: Kurt Johannessen Rita Marhaug Imi Maufe Randi Annie Strand 30.1. - 14.3. 2021, Kristiansand, Norway The exhibition is focusing on artists' books, also including the project Bibliotek Nordica initiated by Codex Polaris (Maufe, Strand, Marhaug) showing the cllection og 82 books in one box. Det er kunstnerboka som presenteres i utstillingen. Altså ikke boka om kunst, men boka som kunst. De seneste årene har vi sett stadig flere visuelle kunstnere som benytter bokformatet for sitt uttrykk, og disse omfavner mulighetene i et format som både virker som objekt og som rom. Utstillingen Rom for bøker presenterer fire kunstnerskap som alle har bokproduksjon sentralt i sin kunstnerpraksis, og som har vært viktige for etableringen av en scene for kunstnerbøker i Norge; Kurt Johannessen, Randi Annie Strand, Rita Marhaug og Imi Maufe. I tillegg vises kunstnergruppen Codex Polaris sin Bibliotek Nordica, som er en kuratert samling av 82 nordiske kunstbøker. https://www.kristiansandkunsthall.no/utstillinger https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckcvuWPok5s Photo: Rita Marhaug |
HARD WORK SOFT LIFE
Studio K: Exhibition Rita Marhaug, 04.12-06.12.2020 The exhibition project was realized for the public from Friday the 4th to Sunday the 6th of December, where the public could both experience the exhibition through the windows from the outside, or by entering the room. HARD WORK SOFT LIFE had a diverse content of objects installed in interaction with performative events and changes in the exhibition. The artist stayed in the space throughout the weekend as a part of the exhibition. In the tension between childish fantasies and existential questions, she tried to create a poetic space. Rita Marhaug's latest book with the same title - HARD WORK, SOFT LIFE, was presented during the exhibition. Opening: Friday 04.12. 18.00-20.00, performance 18.45 Further opening hours: Saturday 05.12.: 13.00-17.00, performance 14.00 Sunday 06.12.: 13.00-17.00, performance 14.00 Photo: Rita Marhaug |
TIDSHORISONTAR
Vi erfarer og erkjenner nå at menneskenes handlinger inngår som del av jordens geologi: Den antroposene epoken, med alle de fysiske og verdimessige utfordringene det gir oss. TIDSHORISONTAR er en utstilling og et preludium til performancekunst-festivalen Temporal Horizons som finner sted nord for Ålesund i august 2021. Utstillerne i TIDSHORISONTAR er alle involvert i produksjonen av den kommende festivalen og dypt engasjert i tematikken. Changeable installations and performances during 10 days. Photo: Rita Marhaug |
OMLAG
I 10 dagar møtte publikum kunstnarene Terese Longva og Rita Marhaug på MOTTAKET i Ålesund sentrum. Gjennom arbeidet deira oppsto og forsvann installasjonar og performance. Overskrifta OMLAG peikar på metoden dei nytta i skapinga av visuelle utsegn, men óg det vanskelege i ei direkte, presis språkleg skildring av kunsterfaringar som publikum. ABOUT For 10 days, the public met the artists Terese Longva and Rita Marhaug at MOTTAKET in the center of Ålesund. Through their work, installations and performances araising and disappearing. The title OMLAG/ABOUT points to the method they use in the creation of visual expressions, but also the difficulty in a direct, precise linguistic depiction of artistic experiences as an audience. Photo performance; Bent Erik Myrvoll Photo installtions: Rita Marhaug |
GRAVITAS The exhibition GRAVITAS presents the photo series TIDE. The motifs depict two women in the tidal zone. Mother and daughter -in equal costumes, acts out on a vast field of seaweed. Marhaug often uses autobiographical elements in her works. However, the intentions are to point at general phenomena and situations. TIDE refers to both the tide and the passage of time, the connector and separator of generations. Ebb and flow is caused by gravitation and the relationship between the earth and the moon: universal, cosmic forces. Hence the title of the exhibition GRAVITAS (Latin: gravitate). Marhaug's oldest daughter Emilie is behind the camera, while Sofie contributes as the model with her mother. Inkjet 30 x 30 cm, on Hahnemuhle archival 300 gram cotton paper Edition of 5 Produced in 2018 at Foreningen Trykkeriet, center of contemporary printmaking |
IT'S (IN) OUR NATURE Group exhibition at Bærum Kunsthall, near Oslo. Together with Marte Aas, Ragna Misvær Grønstad, Anders Kjellesvik, Rita Marhaug, Daniel Persson, og Hedvig Thorkildsen Between 14.02.-10.03.2019 Image right: "Herbarium Arctica" from ongoing series of monoprints. Image below: "Herbarium Arctica" from ongoing series of monoprinted books with handwriting. Image installation behind by Anders Kjellesvik. Image below, right: "Herbarium Arctica" from ongoing series of monoprinted books with handwriting. Imagees behind by Hedvig S Thorkildsen. Printed on Somerset White, 300 gram paper with Charbonnel etching ink. http://www.baerumkunsthall.no/utstillinger.html |
ARTMONEY NORD
is a selected group of Nordic artists displaying very personal ideas and statements on art as a value that can circulate and form new relationships and ways of thinking of ‘value’. The project will unfold during exhibitions, lectures, artists’ talks and creative workshops. It was launched at Dokk1 late summer 2017 during the Aarhus Festival Week, at TRYK2 i Bornholms Kulturuge September 2017, at NIPÅ, Nordic Institute at Aaland Islands in February-March 2018, and at Rikhardinkadun kirjasto in Helsinki in June 2018. Next stop is Iceland in August – October 2018. The pictures are from the series Arctic Flora, double notes made in monoprints of plants from Lofoten, one negative and one positive. Each 18 x 12 cm. Curator: Hanne Matthiesen (DK) https://artmoneynord.wordpress.com/ |
SMAK AV BOK (TASTE OF BOOK)
Visningsrommet USF, 10 artists' exhibition Bergen 18th - 29th of August -16 Artist organized project and exhibition that will tour Stormen, Bodø in November -16 and Sogn og Fjordane kunstmuseum i -17. Eight of the artist on the picture to the left: Imi Maufe, Randi A. Strand, Anja Ulset, Sarah Jost, Kurt Johannessen, Rita Marhaug and Elisabeth Alsos Strand. www.codexpolaris.com |
BATTLE #21: TRUE SOLVANG VEVATNE VS. RITA MARHAUG PINK CUBE (Oslo) 22 – 31 January 2016 Saturday – Sunday 2 – 6PM and by appointment Exhibition opening with performance Friday January 22, 8PM At PINK CUBE Rita Marhaug's works will communicate with the bodily pink walls and consist of three main elements: Black Persian fur (from new-born lambs of Karkul sheep), photographic prints displaying the relationship between humans and dogs in contrast to other animals and a performance exploring these elements further. The performance will take place at the opening and includes another material interacting with the space, continuing her Norwegian Liquidseries. The series investigate the (female) body in relation to the fluids that drive the Norwegian economy. Coming from the same industry as the motif in Vevatne's floor piece (described below) and leaving traces on the floor, this substance can potentially start a dialogue between the works. Apart from this liquid Marhaug's starting point for the exhibition has been the concepts of predator and prey and it's variations: The lamb as image of sacrifice and at the same time saviour in our culture, as a clear contrast to the relationship between man and its best friend; the dog. In her photographic series titled PREDATOR the presence of mink fur continues Marhaugs use of skin, fur and textiles in previous performances, questioning the borders between our bodies and their surroundings as well as our ability for bodily communication. Rita Marhaug (1965) lives in Bergen. She holds a MA in Fine Art from Bergen Academy of Art and Design, KHIB (1989) and a BA in Art History from the University of Bergen, UiB (1996). Until July 2013 she was engaged as professor at KHIB, Depatment of Fine Art. Important tools of expression are printmaking, drawings, photography, artist books, video and performance. Marhaug’s approach to performance is through the everyday language of the body and it's physical dimensions. Recently a stronger interest in allegorical methods and strategies has developed from her work on fur and animals, as material and motives. Since the early 90's Marhaug has participated in a great number of solo- and group exhibitions and performance festivals in Norway and internationally. At PINK CUBE True Solvang Vevatne will show two pieces. All ways (2016) is a sculpture made from knitted variations of the road sign ”danger of accident” which show different kinds of car crashes. The knitted road signs are sewn together to form a chaotic and dysfunctional highway displayed on a structure of wooden boxes – in some way a hybrid of typical kids-carpets and toy-raceways with dystopic undertones. The use of soft threads, revealing the work's handmade quality, meets the hard, wooden base of the sculpture and it's car motifs that drive us in another direction. Vevatne's second piece, Vacancy (2015), consists of a photograph, and a small everyday-object taken out from the installation shown on the photograph. As in Marhaug's works, bodily surface as well as the repetition and move from two- to three-dimensional is strongly present: The walls of the documented room and the objects in it are covered with cowhide from Norwegian Red Cattle – a breed that is bred for its profitability. One of the references in the title is the vacant farms in the outskirts of Norway – Vevatne's choice of including this work thus continues the dialogue on Marhaug's topics, while the similarity in expression (the fur) perhaps adds a little confusion to the battle. Contact: [email protected] / + 47 45 22 07 97 WWW: pinkcube.no |
( U N ) F A M I L I A R
With colleges Robert Alda, Gillian Carson and Karen Kipphoff at M K Ciurlionis National Art Museum 6th August – 6th September -15. Negotiating familiar and unfamiliar obstacles of everyday life, often requires the individual to examine, dismantle, rebuild and at times reinvent the familiar, to regain familiarity. Observation of the self in familiar surroundings are subject to examination, and attempts at making sense of the world in a wider perspective manifest in artistic practice. While the resulting two and three dimensional artistic works, speak of individual experience in personal language, they can be seen to contain a more general expression of wonder and bewilderment, shock and awe in this age of estranged, hot and cold, dirty and clean living. Self-curated by the artists with assistance from Director Egle Komkaite Baltusnikiene. Marhaug has continued her work with a large “skin-like “fabric first tried out in Berlin September -13. The scale of the beige fabric is now about 200 m2. Another material introduced during the winter has been furs. Marhaug has earlier worked with soft sculptures made from leather, originally from old furniture. For Kaunas she has produced 3 soft fur sculptures. Still spending energy, end joy in drawing parallel to her wide art praxis, another connected series of work will be live drawings from objects and props used in her performance situations. http://www.ciurlionis.lt/en Photos right: "Second Skin for M K Ciurlionis National Art Museum", detail (at left side Karen Kipphoffs News and Sweets 2011 installatalation). "Weekly repport", 7 fremed drawings (and flowers) "Second Skin for M K Ciurlionis National Art Museum" (at left side Karen Kipphoffs News and Sweets 2011 installatalation). Under: "Second Skin for M K Ciurlionis National Art Museum" with " Studio Repport" 9 framed drawings installed in 2 parts. Documentation by Rita Marhaug |
POP UP ART
Group exhibition. At Frantz : Navle (Strandgaten 205, Bergen) 11-13. October -13. Exactly one year after odds exhibition in Odda, Hardanger, the text compilation and catalogue was presented. In addition, the Pop-Up Art show present new works from some of the Odds artists. Marhaug participated with the insallation Pop up Skin http://www.odds-project.com/ |
GLOBAL PRINT 2013
International print exhibition in Douro, Portugal The group exhibition opened 31st of August 2013. Marhaugs contribution was an image group of 3 x 3 prints/drawings on paper Curator Nuno Canelas http://www.douro-gravura.org/edpt.pdf |
FROM WHERE I STAND I CAN SEE YOU
Bonnington Gallery, Nottingham on Trent University 8.1-8.2 -13 Duo exhibition with college Traci Kelly from Nottingham, UK. The exhibition brought together two artists that investigate their own subjectivity in relation to socio-political economies and corporeal boundaries. Through differing approaches each artist created a shared language through mired and inky surfaces on skin and paper. By exhibiting solo works together Kelly and Marhaug was grappling to hold each other in view and create the context to embark on a collaborative project continnued during Kelly's stay in Bergen , spring-13. http://www.boningtongallery.co.uk/exhibitions/from-where-i-stand-i-can-see-you All documentation by Julian Hughes |
FELLESNEVNER FOTO
Leidangsgalleriet, Stiklestad Nasjonale Kultursenter, Norway May-July 2012 Exhibition together with Torhild Aukan and Hermann Isaksen Curator Inger Lillesand http://www.nils-aas-kunstverksted.no/index.php/utstillinger/utstilling_snk/fellesnevner_foto |
TRAINING NATURE
Group exhibition at PrintRoom, London Marhaug showed the portfolio Hemoglobin, 9 (mono) prints, stained with laquer. June and July 2012. The photograph creates a nearness to the viewer through its convincing representation of what is photographed. The technology of colour photography has perfected this simulation of the real or the seen far beyond what the eye itself is capable of. Meanwhile, technological perfection bears an intrinsic ambivalence: The nearness can, in its turn, create a distance to the viewer. Curator Victoria Browne |
CONFESSION
Rom 8 Bergen, Norway April 2011 With Anne Helen Mydland, Morten Kvamme, Tove Tømmerberg Pictures: Street view Rom 8. Detail from coin work, HARD WORK. (60 kilos of one kroner coins partly mounted on wall partly on floor). Overview gallery space: Tove left , Anne Helen front midle, Rita back midle, Morten right and rita far right. Detail from wallpaper motive.Detail from coin work, HARD WORK. Photo: Bjarte Bjørkum |
CONFESSION
Salon Akademii in Warszawa, Poland, October 2010 With Anne Helen Mydland, Morten Kvamme, Tove Tømmerberg Wallpaper installation in gallery space 380cm x 550cm. HARD WORK 1000 Norwegian kroner coins and 1000 zloty coins on wall and floor. Morten's installation in front of coin work. Rita mounting coins on wall. |
UNEXPECTED MEETINGS WITH REALITY
Exhibition collaboration with Robert Alda and Gillian Carson. Showed at Radøy Kunstsenter, September 2010. Installation. Alda, Carson and Marhaug's artistic praxis includes performance or performative strategy as a central element of production. This joint exhibition was however object-based, where the body's presence was discussed. The rooms and works presented had the character of installation. Focus on the artist’s presence or footprint within the work is only one aspect, equally important is the visitor’s presence in the gallery. In this way the concept of presence can function as an introduction of understanding both the overall and individual sections of the exhibition. The tittle, Unexpected Meeting with Reality, contains many of Alda, Carson and Marhaug's common attitudes to the world, as well as their art production. The presence within the unexpected, or the unexpected within the presence, explains their artistic endeavour in simple terms. Reality is a frequently used word in everyday life, but if we investigate the meaning or meanings of it, many contradictions and problems emerge; primarily, where is the boundary between reality and fantasy, or reality and unreality? Images from Marhaug's room: Photographic wallpaper 4,5 x 3,10 m Furniture and textile Soft leather objects, various dimentions Artist book, 33 x 35 cm Photo: Rita Marhaug |
GARTNERBLIKKET (Gardener’s Gaze)
Galleri Allmenningen, Bergen 2005 About the exhibition: The photograph creates nearness to the viewer through its convincing representation of what is photographed. The technology of colour photography has perfected this simulation of the real or the seen far beyond what the eye itself is capable of. Meanwhile, technological perfection bears an intrinsic ambivalence: The nearness can, in its turn, create a distance to the viewer. Emotional nearness to the viewer is one aspect about pictures with which I have been concerned in my artistic practice. The choice of materiality is important in this respect. The tactile appeal of intaglio printing and the photographic quality are closely related in the pictorial series EVERYTHING WE SEE. Here the creation of illusion is suppressed in deference to qualities such as choice of paper and ink. It is not the capacity for imitation that is the goal, rather, to examine and underscore what happens in the space between the photograph and the fine art print. In commercial graphic production, the main goal is to reduce this distance, yet for my intents and purposes, it can be just as important to increase it. Photo: Rita Marhaug |
KUNSTGARANTI
26.10. - 27.11.2000 Gallery By The Way Curator Annette Kierulf prosjektet KUNSTGARANTI tar utgangspunkt i spørsmålene: - er det det samme å sponse OL som å sponse Kulturbyen? - hvilke krav stilles til en sponsor som skal støtte et kunstnerisk prosjekt? - mens sponsorens betingelser til kunstneren som regel er klart definert i form av krav om synlig plass til firmalogo, egne invitasjoner og visninger, er kulturprodusenten gjerne tilfreds med enkleste kvantitative avtale: Penger på konto. i denne bytterelasjonen er asymmetrien påtagelig. kulturverdier blir underordnet kapitalverdier. festtalene om kulturens egenverdi blir paradoksale når den så åpenlyst behandles som middel. som kulturprodusent er det betenkelig å la kvalitative kriterier vike for kvantitativ gevinst og amputere sine muligheter som alternativ meningsprodusent. http://www.galleribtw.no/historie_rammesett.htm Photo: Oddleiv Apneseth (during mounting of exhibition) |