Sverre Bjertnes
March 10–April 20, 2013
Assorted work
Assorted works
Press Release
Sverre Bjertnes: If you really loved me you would be able to admit that you’re ashamed of me.
A Projective Identification by Bjarne Melgaard
White Columns is proud to present the first solo exhibition in the United States by the New York-based Norwegian artist Sverre Bjertnes. The exhibition has been developed by Bjertnes in collaboration with the artist Bjarne Melgaard, and expands upon their earlier collaborative projects presented in 2012 at Oslo’s Rod Bianco Gallery and Galleri K, and at New York’s Maccarone Gallery in 2011 – as a part of the widely celebrated exhibition After Shelley Duvall ’72 curated by Melgaard.
The exhibition at White Columns, orchestrated by Melgaard, will take place in an optically charged environment. The exhibition will focus on a recent group of new paintings and works on paper by Bjertnes, but will also include a discrete number of Bjertnes’ earlier works (made between 1999 and 2008), establishing a historical context for his practice. Additionally the exhibition will include collaborative works made with both Melgaard and the artist’s mother Randi Koren Bjertnes, as well as a group of painted furniture works by the maverick furniture dealer and artist Robert Loughlin (1949-2011.)
Sverre Bjertnes (b.1977) is a Norwegian artist currently based in New York and Oslo. He studied initially in Trondheim, as a student of Odd Nerdrum, and then at the National Academy of Fine Art, Oslo (1995-1999.) Bjertnes work has been shown extensively in Scandinavia and Europe, and his work is in the collections of the Astrup Fearnley Museum, Oslo; and the Kunstmuseum, Trondheim, among others. His work was included in After Shelley Duvall ’72, curated by Bjarne Melgaard for New York’s Maccarone Gallery in 2011. This will be his first solo exhibition in the United States.
Bjarne Melgaard (b.1967) is a Norwegian artist currently based in New York. He has had more than forty-five solo exhibitions, including most recently at Luxembourg & Dayan, New York (2012); and the Institute of Contemporary Art, London (2011.) A frequent curator and collaborator Melgaard has written more than a dozen novels and produced seven films. Recent curatorial and collaborative projects include After Shelley Duvall ’72, Maccarone, New York (2011); Ideal Pole a series of exhibitions at New York’s Ramiken Crucible; and Beyond Death: Viral Discontents and Contemporary Notions About AIDS – a project realized at the 54th Venice Biennial by the Office for Contemporary Art Norway (OCA).
The exhibition will be accompanied by a publication developed and designed in collaboration with Brendan Dugan/Karma that includes a text by Melgaard and an afterword by Matthew Higgs.
In parallel to the exhibition at White Columns Bjertnes and Melgaard will debut a site-specific two-artist presentation of new collaborative works at the Armory Show (March 6-10, Pier 94, Booth 809) in the booth of Rod Bianco Gallery, Oslo.
For more information contact: info@whitecolumns.org
Sverre Bjertnes, Untitled, 2013, oil, oil stick and resin on linen, 60 × 52 × 2 in. (A surrealist image of a person crouching in front of a dollhouse holding a pink object. A house and trees are in the background against a bright orange sky.)
Sverre Bjertnes, Untitled, 2013, oil and resin on linen, 66 × 54 × 2 in. (A surrealist image of a nearly full-bodied figure with a purple head and red legs.)
Sverre Bjertnes, Untitled, 2013, oil and acrylic on linen, 66 × 56 × 2 in. (A person occupies the right side of the frame with their hand on their hip against a purple background. Strokes of vibrant colors occupy the top left of the frame.)
Sverre Bjertnes, Untitled, 2013, oil on linen, 40 × 47 × 1 in. (A cloudy fraction of an image of a person’s face from their forehead to the bottom of their nose. The rest of the frame is white space.)
Sverre Bjertnes, Untitled, 2013, oil and resin on linen, 24 × 28 × 1 in. (A painting of a person sitting in a bathtub with their eyes closed.)
Sverre Bjertnes, Untitled, 2013, oil and resin on linen, 24 × 28 × 1 in. (A blue painting of a person from the chest up.)
Sverre Bjertnes, Untitled, 2013, oil and resin on linen, 24 × 18 × 1 in. (A person with makeup on sitting in a bathtub.)
Sverre Bjertnes, Tree, 2008, oil on canvas and bronze heads, 108 × 80 × 4 in. (An image of a fully-stocked bookshelf. The entirety of the bookshelf and its contents are yellow. Two bronze heads sit atop the bookshelf.)
Sverre Bjertnes, Thea, 2000, oil on canvas, 46 × 53 × 4 in. (A frontal portrait of a person from the chest up.)
Sverre Bjertnes, Untitled (Series of nine), 1999-2000, oil on canvas, 12 × 16 × 2 in. (A blurry painting of a person indoors wearing a bright red tank top and white shorts. They are pictured from their chest to their knees.)
Sverre Bjertnes, Rainbow Crucifixion, 2003, oil on canvas, 97 × 72 × 2 in. (An image of the crucifixion of Jesus overlayed with a rainbow gradient.)
Sverre Bjertnes, Untitled (Series of nine), 1999-2000, oil on canvas, 12 × 16 × 2 in. (A blurry painting of a figure indoors wearing a bright red top and white shorts. They are pictured from head to knee.)
Sverre Bjertnes, Untitled (Series of nine), 1999-2000, oil on canvas, 12 × 16 × 2 in. (A painting of a person indoors wearing a red tank top. Their eyes are closed and they are holding their hand up to their mouth.)
Sverre Bjertnes, Untitled (Series of nine), 1999-2000, oil on canvas, 12 × 16 × 2 in. (A painting of a person indoors wearing a bright red tank top and white shorts. They are pictured from the knees up and have one hand up to their mouth. The other hand is pointed outward.)
Sverre Bjertnes, Untitled (Series of nine), 1999-2000, oil on canvas, 12 × 16 × 2 in. (A painting of a person indoors wearing a red tank top and white shorts. They are holding a microphone up to their face and occupying the left side of the frame.)
Sverre Bjertnes, Untitled (Series of nine), 1999-2000, oil on canvas, 12 × 16 × 2 in. (A painting of a person indoors from the shoulders up.)
Sverre Bjertnes, Untitled (Series of nine), 1999-2000, oil on canvas, 12 × 16 × 2 in. (A painting of a person indoors holding one hand up to their face and facing their other hand outward. One of their feet is slightly lighted off of the floor as they balance on the other foot.)
Sverre Bjertnes, Thea, 2000, oil on canvas, 41 × 61 × 2 in. (A painting of a person from the chest up against a white background.)
Sverre Bjertnes, Untitled (Series of nine), 1999-2000, oil on canvas, 12 × 16 × 2 in. (A painting of a person indoors wearing a red tank top and white shorts. They are bending their knees and holding one arm behind their back while they use the other hand to hold a microphone up to their face.)
Sverre Bjertnes, Thea Playing Dead, 1998-1999, oil on canvas, 41 × 61 × 2 in. (A painting of a nude person laying on white fabric with their eyes closed. One of their hands rests beneath their chest and the other is outstretched.)
Sverre Bjertnes, Untitled, 2013, hand-painted glazed porcelain ceramic, 5 × 4.5 × 4.5 in. Collaboration with Randi Koren Bjertnes. (A small white ceramic vase with an image of a person’s face in red on the front.)
Sverre Bjertnes, Untitled, 2013, hand-painted glazed porcelain ceramic, 5.75 × 4 × 4.25 in. Collaboration with Randi Koren Bjertnes. (A small white ceramic vase with a lipstick print on the lip and a person’s head rendered on the front.)
Sverre Bjertnes, Untitled, 2013, hand-painted glazed porcelain ceramic, 4.75 × 4.5 × 4.5 in. Collaboration with Randi Koren Bjertnes. (A small white ceramic vase with a person’s face from forehead to nose painted twice on the front.)
Sverre Bjertnes, Untitled, 2013, hand-painted glazed porcelain ceramic, 6.25 × 4 × 3.5 in. Collaboration with Randi Koren Bjertnes. (A small white ceramic vase with a person’s head painted on it.)
Sverre Bjertnes, Hanna Maria, 2013, oil on linen, 12 × 9 in. (A painting of a nude person looking downward. They are pictured from the chest up and the painting is contained in a red frame. The frame hangs on a pink and green wall.)
Sverre Bjertnes, Untitled, 2013, hand-painted glazed porcelain ceramic, 5.5 × 4.5 × 5 in. Collaboration with Randi Koren Bjertnes. (A small white ceramic vase with a person’s face from forehead to nose painted at least twice.)
Sverre Bjertnes, Untitled, 2013, oil and resin on linen, 24 × 18 × 1 in. (A painting of the profile of a nude person sitting in a bathtub and looking down. Green and brown paint are layered in organic shapes over the portrait.)
Sverre Bjertnes, Untitled, 2013, oil, acrylic and duct tape on linen, 54 × 68 in. (An orange-toned painting of a severely thin dog overlaid with painted organic shapes. The painting is contained in a black frame and hangs on a blue, red and green wall.)
Sverre Bjertnes, Hanna Maria, 2013, oil on linen, 24 × 18 in. (A black and white painting of a nude person laying in a bathtub with their eyes closed. They are pictured from the chest upward.)
Sverre Bjertnes, Hanna Maria, 2013, oil on linen, 18 × 24 in. (A blurry painting of a person looking down toward the bottom left of the frame. An orange line is painted vertically in the middle of the painting and the background is a pale yellow. The painting is contained in a purple frame and hangs against a brown and red wall.)
Sverre Bjertnes, Hanna Maria, 2013, oil on linen, 18 × 12 in. (A brown-toned painting of a person nude pictured from the chest upward. They are looking toward the left of the frame. The painting is overlaid by a horizontal strip of blue, green, yellow and red paint in the bottom third. The painting is contained by a frame that appears to be a border of faux leaves. The frame hangs on a pink, blue and orange wall.)
Sverre Bjertnes, Hanna Maria, 2013, oil and resin on linen, 47 × 40 in. (A purple-toned painting with a person wearing sunglasses and holding a cup pictured from the waist up occupying the bottom right corner of the frame. A closer image of the same person pictured from the neck up occupies the top left corner.)
Sverre Bjertnes, Hanna Maria, 2013, oil on linen, 24 × 18 in. (A warm-toned painting of a person’s face and partial body.)
Sverre Bjertnes, Hanna Maria, 2013, oil on linen, 48 × 36 in. (A surreal painting of a person laying nude in a bathtub occupying the right side of the frame. Their face is mostly blurry besides a visible lime green patch that holds details of the person’s eye and eyebrow. There are colorful tiles bordering the bathtub and taking up the left side of the frame.)
Sverre Bjertnes, Hanna Maria, 2013, oil on linen, 118 × 71 in. (A painting of a person laying nude in a bathtub. The painting is contrasted by a black background that it appears to be layered on top of.)
Sverre Bjertnes, Untitled, 2013, oil on canvas, 79 × 118 × 2 in. (A surrealist painting of a space indoors. A dog sits on the left side of the frame, its face obscured by blobs of color. Fabric, organic red line, and flat patterns occupy the floor. Images and organically shaped color align with the wall and a step ladder sits on the right side of the floor opposite the dog.)
Sverre Bjertnes, Untitled, 2013, colored pencil and photocopy on paper, 15 × 11 in. (A red, feathery depiction of a bird. A passage in the lower right corner is handwritten in red and reads: “Nineteenth century scientist Charles Darwin in his book The expression of the emotions in man and animals, described shame effect as consisting of blushing, confusion of mind, downward cast eyes, slack posture, and populations worldwide. He also noted the sense of warmth or heat (associated with vasodilation of the face and skin) occurring in intense shame.”)
Sverre Bjertnes, Untitled, 2013, colored pencil and photocopy on paper, 15 × 11 in. (A figure with its back turned hunched over and depicted in red on a white background. A long handwritten paragraph in red cursive wraps around the figure)
Sverre Bjertnes, Untitled, 2013, colored pencil and photocopy on paper, 15 × 11 in. (A long-limbed inhuman figure etched in red over a red ink printed document.)
Sverre Bjertnes, Untitled, 2013, colored pencil and photocopy on paper, 15 × 11 in. (A face etched in blue on the top right of a printed document. The name “Oswald” is written in the bottom right corner.)
Sverre Bjertnes, Untitled, 2013, colored pencil and photocopy on paper, 15 × 11 in.
Sverre Bjertnes, Untitled, 2013, colored pencil and photocopy on paper, 15 × 11 in.
Sverre Bjertnes, Untitled, 2013, colored pencil and photocopy on paper, 15 × 11 in.
Sverre Bjertnes, Untitled, 2013, colored pencil and photocopy on paper, 15 × 11 in.
Sverre Bjertnes, Untitled, 2013, colored pencil and photocopy on paper, 15 × 11 in.
Sverre Bjertnes, Untitled, 2013, colored pencil and photocopy on paper, 15 × 11 in.
Sverre Bjertnes, Untitled, 2013, colored pencil and photocopy on paper, 15 × 11 in.
Sverre Bjertnes, Untitled, 2013, colored pencil and photocopy on paper, 15 × 11 in.
Assorted work
Assorted works
