Programme 2007

VIBEKE TANDBERG (b. 1967) Collage, video and digital collage. 27 January – 11 March Since her artistic debut in 1993, Vibeke Tandberg (1967) has made a strong impression both nationally and internationally. Her exhibition at the Lillehammer Art Museum is one of the most conceptual projects that Tandberg has embarked upon until now. Along with her exhibitions Reading the Newspaper Without Hands (2005) and Monday, January 2, 2006, this exhibition represents a new artistic direction for Tandberg. In a series of photos and videos, Tandberg investigated identity and identity-building through the use of digital manipulations and staged scenes. In a playful and humoristic manner, she used her own life and biography as raw material, while illuminating universal themes such as gender, ideals and relating to authority. The exhibition at the Lillehammer Art Museum represents something very new both technically and thematically, and consists of text collages, video and digital photo-collage. The exhibition was commission by the Lillehammer Art Museum and will later be shown at the Haugar Vestfold Art Museum as well. Financial support for the exhibition has been given by the Arts Council of Norway and Statens utstillingsstipend (art exhibition fund).

GRAHAM NICKSON (b. 1946) Meeting and passing Paintings 24 March – 20 May This retrospective brings together key works by Graham Nickson, the British-born, New York-based artist whose work has come to play a defining role in American contemporary figurative painting. Often monumentally scaled, Graham Nickson’s work arises from a dynamic exchange with the traditions of painting and drawing, and addresses concerns that are at once formal, perceptual, mythic, and deeply human. Featured in this exhibition are several of the multi-figure bather compositions that depict a core of the artist’s investigations from the 1970’s through to the present, and represent powerful translations of human experience into form and color.

ANDERS ZORN (1860-1920)  The joy of holding a paintbrush Painting, water colour, graphics 31 May – 9 September Anders Zorn (1860-1920) succeeded in combining a cosmopolitan mode of expression with a streak of strong local patriotism. As an artist living in Paris during the 1890s, he became an internationally popular portrait painter. He established himself early in his native country Sweden as an accomplished interpreter of recognisable themes. The common feature of his works is the evocatively expressive brush strokes that portray objects with convincingly blended colour nuances. The immediate appeal of his imagery has sustained the popularity of his artwork. His rapidly sketched travel drawings still communicate a pleasant feeling of presence. With the exhibition ”The joy of holding a paintbrush”, the Lillehammer Art Museum has put together a choice selection of Zorn’s voluminous production of oil paintings and water colours, which permit us to take part in his ability to liberate our minds during intense life-giving moments. The works displayed in the exhibition consist primarily of works from the Zorn Collections in Mora, the National Museum in Stockholm and the Gothenburg Art Museum.

NORWEGIAN AND SWEDISH MATISSE STUDENTS Trip-return Paris 8 September – 18 November Together with Picasso, Henri Matisse is the 20th century’s most central artist. During the period 1908-1911 Matisse ran a private art academy in Paris. Of the approx. 150 artists that trained under his tutorage, as many as a third came from Norway and Sweden. The Scandinavian Matisse students brought modern art back to their native countries, and in an international context the Norwegian and Swedish Matisse students were both radical and innovative, and exerted a significant influence on the artistic scene in their respective homelands for decades. Among the prominent Swedish Matisse students were Isaac Grünewald, Nils von Dardél and Sigrid Hjérten sentrale. Among the prominent Norwegian Matisse artists were Jean Heiberg, Axel Revold, Per Krohg and Henrik Sørensen. The exhibition displays some 60 major works by Norwegian and Swedish Matisse students painted in the period 1908-15. The exhibition is a collaborative effort with Kristinehams Art Museum. Curators for the exhibition are Bo Wingren and Svein Olav Hoff.

HALVDAN HOLBØ (1907 - 1995) Retrospective Paintings 1 December – 27 January 2008 In connection with the 100-year anniversary of the birth of the Lillehammer painter Halvdan Holbø, a major exhibition of his artwork is being organized. Halvdan Holbø was the son of Gudbrandsdal valley’s monumental and dramatic painter Kristen Holbø (1869 – 1953), and the son continued in his father’s artistic footsteps, but under the influence of French training and colour tradition. His artistic expression may be described as decorative formalism, where the composition almost seems to be a goal in itself. He has a simple palette in which details were subject to an overall understanding of the motif. To a large degree, Holbø’s mode of expression may be described as slightly abstracted naturalism. Holbø usually painted his works standing looking at his motif, primarily landscapes.