Michael Janssen

Sverre Bjertnes - New Sentiments

02 May - 31 Jul 2015

Sverre Bjertnes, NIMIS, 2015, mixed media on canvas, 160 x 120 cm, Michael Janssen Berlin-Singapore
Michael Janssen Berlin is pleased to present New Sentiments, the first solo exhibition with Norwegian artist Sverre Bjertnes.

Sverre Bjertnes is based in Oslo, Norway. In 2013, his works were shown in a solo exhibition in cooperation with Bjarne Melgaard at the White Columns in New York, which was named by the New York Times as one of the 10 best exhibitions of the year.

Bjertnes made his mark as a young figurative painter after attending the Norwegian Nerdrum School as a teenager. He was later educated at the Norwegian National Academy of Fine Arts in Oslo, then further developed his studies at the AKI Academy of Fine Art in the Netherlands. During the most recent years, he has been rising as a star in Norway’s contemporary art scene, with a strong artistic identity.

With a rigorously structured method of observing the world, Bjertnes offers canvases that are filled with living (and mostly familiar) subjects, all of whom are presented with a corpse-like detachment in scenarios that illustrate the impossibility of accurately portraying the people or things that one has feelings for. The idea of portraying imaginary emotions is critical in Bjertnes’ work and is evident throughout his years of practice.

The show New Sentiments will consist of 12 of his new paintings, a sulpture group and a video installation. The sculpture group includes four sculptures, one of which will display a video inside.

Sverre Bjertnes (b. 1976 in Oslo, Norway) lives and works in Oslo. Bjertnes’s recent solo exhibitions have been at the Brandstrup Gallery, Oslo (2015), Stenersen Museum, Oslo (2014), James Fuentes, New York (2014), Galleri K, Oslo (2014), White Columns, New York (2013), "Climat Confusian Assistance with Bjarne Melgaard", Galerie K, Oslo (2012), Art Brussels (2011).

Recent group exhibitions include "THE ART – Freedom and bounderies", Galleri Festiviteten og Stallgården, Norway (2014), Gamle Ormelet, Norway (2013), "Laying the ghost" with Bjarne Melgaard, Rod Bianco Gallery, Oslo (2012), ”Fresh Paint”, Stenersenmuseet, Oslo (2012), "After Shelley Duval '72 (Frogs on the High Line)", Maccarone, New York (2011), "62 SKRIK", Vestfossen Kunstlaboratorium, Øvre Eiker (2011), Sverre Bjertnes and Bjarne Melgaard, Gallery Rod Bianco, Copenhagen (2010).
 

Tags: Sverre Bjertnes, Bjarne Melgaard