The Spring Exhibition 2020

Exhibition opening: Thursday March 5th, 7pm
Exhibition dates: March 5th to April 5th
Venue: Fotogalleriet

This year’s edition of the Spring Exhibition is a meditation on climate change, terror and treats that affects the Earth’s current status quo. All the contributing works to the exhibition is original and show tendencies connected to perspectives of zooming in or further away.
- Sverre Strandberg, chair of the jury and curator for Spring Exhibition 2020

WITH WORKS BY: HEDEVIG ANKER / TANYA BUSSE / YAMILE CALDERON & EDWARD CUNNIFFE / OVE KVAVIK / TOBIAS LILJEDAHL / TOR-FINN MALUM FITJE / GIULIA MANGIONE / VEGAR MOEN

The exhibition is curated by Sverre Strandberg

The Norwegian Association of Fine Arts Photographers (FFF), in collaboration with Fotogalleriet, are delighted to invite you to the opening of the Spring Exhibition 2020, an annual event that according to a long-standing tradition focuses on showcasing the wide field of contemporary art photography in Norway from the perspective of artists themselves.

This year’s Spring Exhibition will present works by nine artists, all whom have been chosen by a jury of fellow art professionals based on an open call. A dystopian tone, the foreboding of a menace or crisis, and the awareness that the earth’s existence is at risk, are all striking elements of the exhibition. According to the jury, these elements have been general themes present in the applications for 2020.

The jury has consisted of Sverre Strandberg (artist), Kjersti Vetterstad (artist) and Hanne Hammer Stien (curator and writer). The common ground for their artistic selection is based on the ways in which the artists, at the beginning of a new decade, develop the theme of danger and/or an immediate threat in our time and future by exploring issues connected to contemporary ways of living – either enlarged, redeemed, affected or manipulated. Yet, it is not a given that all threats are equally alarming.

The exhibition will be officially opened with a speech by artist, curator and writer Tommy Olsson. During the opening The Relief Fund for Visual Artists will distribute the Art Photography Prize 2020, Norway’s largest photography prize.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Hedevig Anker (b. 1969, Oslo: lives and works in Oslo). She is educated at the Oslo National Academy of Art and Bergen Academy of Art. She has had solo exhibitions in such places as Kunstnerforbundet and Lillehammer Art Museum, and she has shown works in several group exhibitions including at the Preus Museum and the National Museum in Oslo.

Tanya Busse (b. 1982, Moncton, Canada: lives and works in Tromsø). She has an MFA from the Tromsø Academy of Contemporary Art and Creative Writing and a BFA from Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in Halifax, Canada. She has had solo exhibitions in such venues as Tromsø kunstforening, Mumbai Art Room and Podium Oslo, and has also participated in a series of group exhibitions in Norway and abroad.

Yamile Calderon (b. 1974, Colombia: lives and works in Oslo) and Edward Cunniffe (b. 1974, Irland: lives and works in Dublin). Calderon has an MFA from the Bergen Academy of Art and Design and has participated in a series of group exhibitions in Norway and abroad. Cunniffe has an MA in art from National College of Art in Dublin, Ireland. He works across the disciplines of visual art and film, with screenings and exhibitions internationally.

Ove Kvavik (b. 1985, Kristiansand: lives and works in Oslo). He has an MFA from Malmö Art Academy and a BFA from Trondheim Academy of Fine Art. He has participated in a series of solo- and group exhibitions including the Bærum Kunsthall, Sørlandets kunstmuseum, Akershus kunstsenter and Northern Gallery of Contemporary Arts in Sunderland.

Tobias Liljedahl (b. 1988, Göteborg: lives and works in Trondheim). He has a BFA from Trondheim Academy of Fine Art and works primarily with video and photography. Liljedahl’s works often start from technical assumptions behind image production; he looks at how various methods of producing images affect the various stories these pictures create.

Tor-Finn Malum Fitje (b. 1989, Porsgrunn: lives and works in Oslo). He has an MFA from The Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm, a BFA from Konstfack – University of Arts, Crafts and Design and has a bachelor’s in film production from the University of Bergen. Malum Fitje primarily works within film and sound in essayistic forms, and has recently exhibited at Stavanger Kunsthall, The Art Centre Kabuso, The Oseana Art and Cultural Center and Moderna Museet, Modern Art Museum in Stockholm. Thomas Anthony Hill (b. 1989 in Coffs Harbour, Australia) has a master's in literary studies from the University of Bergen and works as a freelance translator.

Giulia Mangione (b. 1987, Firenze: lives and works in Bergen). She is currently attending Bergen Academy of Art and Design. Holding an MA in American Literature and Culture from Goldsmiths University of London, she has also studied photojournalism at the Danish School of Media and Journalism in Aarhus, Denmark. Mangione has worked with her own photographic projects while living in the Nordic countries and released her artist book Halfway Mountain (Journal) in 2018. Her work has recently been exhibited at the International Center for Photography (ICP) in New York, Musée de l’Élysée in Lausanne Switzerland, and Foto-forum in Bozen, Italy.

Vegar Moen (b. 1967, Røros: lives and works in Malmö). He was educated at Trondheim Academy of Fine Art from 1993 to 1998 and has had a series of solo exhibitions at such venues as Bergen Art Museum, Trondheim Art Museum and Galleri F15.

ABOUT THE SPRING EXHIBITION
The Spring Exhibition was established by artists for artists in 1976 by approval of FFF’s annual general meeting. As an opposition to The Autumn Exhibition, the official Salon for showcasing contemporary art in Norway, the Spring Exhibition was established to ensure the inclusion and exposure of lens-based art practices in the contemporary art field. It is an annual group exhibition based on open submissions selected by a jury of fellow part professionals.

Since 2010, The Relief Fund for Visual Artists have annually announced and awarded the Art Photography Prize, Norway’s largest art photography prize, to the most significant artist displayed at the exhibition.

ABOUT FORBUNDET FRIE FOTOGRAFER
The Norwegian Association of Fine Art Photography Professionals was initiated and established by Knut Evensen and Robert Meyer in 1974, in a time when lens-based art sought to be acknowledged as an artistic medium. FFF has since then become a nationwide members association dedicated to working purposely for its members with both art politics and art education, and also mediating the importance of art photography in Norway.

ABOUT FOTOGALLERIET
Fotogalleriet is Scandinavia’s oldest fotohalle and has since its start in 1977 aimed at exhibiting photography as a critical art practice engaging with social issues, as well as building bridges between the national and international discourse around photography. Fotogalleriet’s main goal is to promote and strengthen photography as a free tool of artistic expression. Since 1978, Fotogalleriet has collaborated closely with FFF in the production of the Spring Exhibition.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The Norwegian Association of Fine Art Photography would like to thank The Relief Fund for Visual Artists, Oslo Municipality, the Norwegian Photographic Fund (Nofofo) and The Arts Council Norway for its continued support of the Spring Exhibition and Fotobokfestival Oslo.

Fotogalleriet would like to extend a thank you to all its supporters. A nonprofit foundation, Fotogalleriet’s principal funding comes from The Arts Council Norway. Additional funding is provided by the Norwegian Photographic Fund (Nofofo). Partial funding comes from the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Culture and the Oslo Municipality.

Banner and thumbnail: Palestina 1938. Hedevig Anker 2020. Photo: Istvan Virag