The exhibition Mirrorscape at QB Gallery also presents a new silkscreen prints: Chronicle (Leviathan). The print was printed by the artist at Fellesverkstedet in Oslo, Norway and is sold through QB Gallery.
Solo exhibition: Mirrorscape
From Bjørn Hatterud’s introduction:
Here are some disjointed quotes about Båsen's art, presented without sources: "video games and fantasy meeting the grandeur and decadence of the Baroque." "Characterized by ornamentation, complexity, and a personal mythology; the works appear as a blend of the grotesque and the decadent." "Full of references to mythology, the decadence of both past and present, fairy tales, and realism." "A sophisticated and saccharine sweet sensibility, referencing the ornate approach of masters such as Watteau and Boucher in the Late Baroque period, as well as the kitschy aesthetic of contemporary Japanese painting by artists such as Takashi Murakami and Yayoi Kusama."
It's as if Båsen's works evade straightforward sentences, mirroring his aesthetics. The moment you think you've captured the piece, it's as if your gaze slides onto yet another detail. There are so many, and at times they contradict one another. It’s not easy to grasp what one should extract from these works.
Mirrorscape, September 21st - October 20th, QB Gallery, Gabels gate 43, Oslo.
Photo: Kunstdok/Tor S. Ulstein
New silkscreen prints
QB Gallery presents two new silkscreen prints, Fable (Gingerbread) and Fable (Wonderland). The prints were printed by the artist at Fellesverkstedet in Oslo, Norway and is sold through QB Gallery.
Group Show: Gjenfortryllet
The group show Gjenfortryllet (Re-enchantment) opened at TKM Gråmølna in Trondheim, Norway on October 7th. The exhibition presents various works from the collection of National Museum of Decorative Arts and Design. Including pieces by Edda Gimnes, Tom Kosmo, Ask Bjørlo, Málfríður Aðalsteinsdóttir, William Morris, Brit Dyrnes, Felieke van der Leest, Frida Hansen and Bjørn Båsen.
Gjenfortryllet, October 7th 2023 - October 31st 2024, TKM Gråmølna / National Museum of Decorative Arts and Design, Trenerys gate 9, Trondheim.
Photo: Tor Simen Ulstein/Kunstdok
Art fair: Enter Art Fair
QB Gallery presents three artists during Enter Art Fair 2023: Lars Morrell, Andrea Scholtze and Bjørn Båsen. In addition the booth showcases a table designed by Pettersen & Hein.
Booth 10, Enter Art Fair, Lokomotivværkstedet, Copenhagen, August 25th-27th.
Photo: The Grieg Foundation
Group Show: Båsen & Breivik
The show presents two monumental pieces: Ragna Breivik’s (1891-1965) woven tapestries inspired by the myth of Åsmund Frægdajevar and Bjørn Båsen’s ten meter long painting, The Saga Frieze, which tells the story about the Norwegian constitution and its links to the Napoleonic Wars.
July 14th-August 6th, Oseana Kunst- og Kultursenter
Mobergsbakken 20, 5200 Os, Norway.
Group Show: Sølvpust
The group show, Sølvpust (Silver Breath), presents art, games and fantasy which all explores nordic myths, nature and history. Participants: Kiki Smith, Rina Charlotte Lindgren, Bjørn Båsen, Vanna Bowles, Sverre Malling, Tom Kosmo, Johannes Høie, Inga S. Søreide, Lars Elling, Kim Diaz Holm, Even Mehl Amundsen, Nikolai Astrup, Peder Balke, Jon Bauer, Johan Jacob Bennetter, Knut Bergslien, Nils Bergslien, Erik Bodom, Ragna Breivik, Knud Bull, Knud Baade, Hans Dahl, JC Dahl, AK Dolven, Johan Fredrik Eckersberg, Johannes Flintoe, Hans Gude, Theodor Kittelsen, Lul Krag, Carl Peter Lehmann, Gerhard Munthe, Ørnulf Opdahl, Alf Rolfsen, Christian Skredsvig, Harald Sohlberg, Adolph Tidemand, Erik Werenskiold... and many more.
May 5th-August 13th, 2023, Oseana Kunst- og Kultursenter
Mobergsbakken 20, 5200 Os, Norway.
Artist Talk: Painters in dialogue
Painters in dialogue invites two artists working with painting to each show one artwork. These works are the starting point for open conversation between the artists and the audience.
Hanneline Røgeberg (NO) and Bjørn Båsen (NO) are two artists who deal directly with how painting forms narrative. Røgeberg’s sensitive, charged works explore paradoxes of representation and language. Shifting between pictorial and abstracted modes, they often set up dialogues between works by directly pressing paint from one piece onto another. Båsen’s work deals with storytelling, creating layers of cultural and personal histories and myths. Often drawing on literature, Båsen’s visually rich narratives blur perceptions and unfold across multiple works.
07. februar 2023 kl. 17.30–19.30, LNM, Kongens gate 2, 0153 Oslo.
Chronicle (Castle), silkscreen print.
New Silkscreen Print
The exhibition Tales We Tell at QB Gallery also presents a new silkscreen prints: Chronicle (Castle). The print was printed by the artist at Fellesverkstedet in Oslo, Norway and is sold through QB Gallery and atelier.art .
Photo: Kunstdok/Istvan Virag
Tales We Tell, installation photo.
Group show: Tales we tell
The group show Tales We Tell opened at QB Gallery in Oslo on December 1st. Participating artists: Cecilia Jimenez Ojeda, Erika Stöckel, Kaare Ruud and Bjørn Båsen.
Tales We Tell, December 1st 2022 - December 22nd 2022, QB Gallery, Gabels Gate 43, Oslo.
Photo: Istvan Virag/Kunstdok
Play: Mytelabyrinten
The theatre company Unge Viken Teater has created a play for children inspired by the exhibition Mythos at Nitja Center for Contemporary Art. Mytelabyrinten (The Labyrinth of Myths) will be performed several times at Nitja during the exhibition period.
Playwright: Balqiis Omar Ali- Hanaf, Director: Kari Ramnefjell, Actor: Sindre Strand Offerdal, Costume: Benedicte Olsson Lønes, Company: Unge Viken Teater.
Photo: Istvan Virag/Nitja Center for Contemporary Art
New silkscreen prints
The exhibition Mythos at Nitja Center of Contemporary Art also presents two new silkscreen prints: Chronicle (Mermaid) and Tafel (Cobalt). The prints were printed by the artist at Fellesverkstedet in Oslo, Norway and both prints are sold exclusively through Nitja during the exhibition period. From June 13th they will be available through QB Gallery, Soli Brug and atelie.art .
Photo: Kunstdok/Istvan Virag/Nitja Center for Contemporary Art
The Saga Frieze
Solo Exhibition: Mythos
The exhibition Mythos is now on view at Nitja Center for Contemporary Art, in Lillestrøm, Norway. It presents a diverse group of works, including paintings, sculptures, watercolours and silkscreen prints. The exhibition’s centerpiece is a ten meter long frieze. The Saga Frieze is an attempt to reestablish the old genre of history paintings. It portrays the Napoleonic Wars and their effect on the Norwegian constitution from 1814.
Mythos, May 14th - June 12th, Nitja Center for Contemporary Art, Kirkegata 10A, Lillestrøm
Photo: Kunstdok/Nitja Center for Contemporary Art
Book: Vendepunkter
Vendepunkter (Turning points) is a collection of essays in which writers, philosophers, activists and others have all contributed with a text about turning points in their professional or personal lives. Contributors: Suzanne Brøgger, Peter Gembäck, Finn Skårderud, Thomas Hylland Eriksen, Wencke Mühleisen, Sumaya Jirde Ali, Elisabeth Thorsen, Marianne Pierron, Karin Haugane, Tarald Stein, Andreas Ribe-Nyhus. Editor: Siri Meyer. Design: Kristian Tennebø. Illustrator: Bjørn Båsen. Publisher: Kalliope Forlag.
Photo: Natalja Twelve
Commission: The Holberg Prize
The Holberg Prize is awarded annually to a scholar who has made outstanding contributions to research in the humanities, social science, law or theology, either in one of these fields or through interdisciplinary work. This year a giclée reproduction the painting Banquet (Underworld) was included in the diploma given to each recipient. Because of covid the award ceremonies included the winners og The Holberg Prize and The Nils Klim Prize for both 2020 and 2021: Martha C. Nussbaum, Griselda Pollock, Frederik Poulsen and Daria Gritsenko.
Photo: Alan Klehr / University of Chicago Law School, Privat / Holbergprisen, Jacob Kjerumgaard /Holbergprisen and Unigrafia Creative / Holbergprisen.
Public Art Commission: University of Bergen
The public art comission for the University of Bergen, Norway was installed on Friday. The comission is an oil painting inspired by the writings of the 18th century novelist and playwright Ludvig Holberg. The painting was mounted in the dining room of Lønningen Mansion in Arboretet, Bergen Botanical Gardens.
Photo: Eivind Senneset
Interview: silkscreen print for Atelier
This week Atelier launches a new silkscreen print by Bjørn Båsen. To mark the launch they have published an interview where he discusses the story behind the piece. Chronicle (Copenhagen), 2021, 50x58cm, Silkscreen print on paper, edition: 70.
Photo: Christian von Hanno
Group Show: 30 Grader i Februar, QB Gallery, Oslo
The group show 30 grader i Februar (30 degrees in February) opens at QB Gallery in Oslo on February 19th. Participating artists: Liv Tandrevold Eriksen, Hanne Friis, Linda Lerseth, Lars Morell, Andrea Scholze and Bjørn Båsen.
30 Grader i Februar, February 19th 2021 - April 18th 2021, QB Gallery, Gabels Gate 43, Oslo.
Photo: Tor S. Ulstein
Solo Show: Ghosts, Galleri LNM, Oslo
The exhibition Ghosts is now on view at Galleri LNM, in Oslo, Norway. It presents three sculptural paintings in the Cabinet-series, together with nine ink drawings. Each cabinet is dedicated to an artist, including the Russian composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky, The French philosopher and novelist Marquis de Sade and the American writer Howard Philips Lovecraft.
Ghosts, October 1st - October 25th, Galleri LNM, Kongens gate 2, Oslo
Photo: LNM/Jørgen Craig Lello
Public Art Commission: The Arctic University of Norway
This autumn a new addition to The Arctic Univerity of Norway opens in Tromsø. The building will house Institutt for lærerutdanning og pedagogikk (ILP) and includes several newly produced art works by Tanya Busse, Lars Korff Lofthus, Alexander Rishaug, Gjert Rognli, Tegson, Mary Ailonieida Sombán Mari, Solveig Ovanger, el Nango, Niilas Helander and Bjørn Båsen. The project was curated by André Gali and Bjørn Hatterud under direction of KORO (Kunst i Offentlig Rom).
Bjørn Båsen has contributed with two pieces. Arctic Cabinet is collaboration with the artist Lars Korff Lofthus, who’s sculpture Store Norske is housed inside the driftwood cabinet by Båsen. The second piece is the oil painting Chronicle (Tromsø), which focuses on the urban development of the city during the last century.
Photo: KORO/Ingun A. Mæhlum