We invite you to an artist talk in the exhibition Viriditas - The Mystical in Art with Tanja Thorjussen, one of the curators of the exhibition, and Päivi Laakso and Astrid Mørland, two of the participating artists.
Date: Thursday, April 27
Time: 18:00-19:00
Location: Tegnerforbundet
The talk will be in Norwegian.
Päivi Laakso and Astrid Mørland are both artists with a long standing praxis in the field. The conversation will revolve around how they as contemporary artists work with the spiritual in art today, both through theme and method. Mythology, religion, natural diversity, pollinators and the mystical in nature will be topics raised, as well as what the artist's role is in this. Tanja Thorjussen will moderate the conversation.
About the participants:
Päivi Laakso (b. 1967) is a visual artist and writer. She graduated from the National School of Crafts and Art Industry (SHKS) and the National Academy of Fine Arts. As an artist she works intuitively and imaginatively, through detailed works that revolve around people, animals and something in between. Mythologies and stories from the unconscious appear as visual stories. She is interested in the various facets of emotion, dreams and dream interpretation and the spiritual. Laakso lives and works in Oslo.
Astrid Mørland (b. 1950) was educated at the National Academy of Fine Arts, the Kunstgewerbeschule in Basel and holds a Master's degree in art history from the University of Oslo. In her many years of work, she has explored a dreamlike pictorial landscape rich in symbols and condensed meaning. Mørland reflects on human existential conditions and ques-tions our presence in the world. Her work considers society’s denial of the ongoing massive extinction of animal species and their habitats, a denial reflected in her hybrid creations. Mørland lives and works in Lillesand.
Tanja Thorjussen (b. 1970) is a visual artist and curator. She holds a BFA from KHIB in Bergen (NO) and Parsons The New School in New York (USA) and is educated as curator from Telemark University. Thorjussen works in media such as drawing, public art and performance that explore the spiritual in nature, hydrofeminism, and the science embedded in archaeology, indigenous knowledge and ancient mythology. Thorjussen has curated several exhibitions throughout her artistic career and by curating an exhibition such as Viriditas, Thorjussen explores the spiritual in contemporary art in a widespread perspective. She lives and works in Oslo.
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Image credit: Photo by Tanja Thorjussen (center): Jannik Abel / Photo by Astrid Mørland (right): Anne Day.
