previews

  • Bjarne Melgaard, Untitled, 2007, oil on canvas, 78 3/4 x 118 1/8".

    Bjarne Melgaard, Untitled, 2007, oil on canvas, 78 3/4 x 118 1/8".

    Bjarne Melgaard: Jealous

    Astrup Fearnley Museet
    Strandpromenaden 2
    January 21–April 25, 2010

    Curated by Grete Årbu, Gunnar B. Kvaran, and Hanne Beate Ueland

    Even Edvard Munch’s madness is no match for the outpourings of Bjarne Melgaard. Compounding his work’s surplus of feeling and confessional tone, Melgaard proceeds in a multitude of media, from furniture and wax figures to video and text-based neo-expressionist painting—as well as the odd carved tree trunk. A midcareer survey, “Jealous” will present more than one hundred works tracking the past fifteen years of Melgaard’s artistic adventure. The emotional charge of his work will no doubt also surface in the coinciding film series curated by the artist (hosted by Norsk Filminstitutt) and a special broadcast on Norwegian radio network NRK featuring an interview with Melgaard and a program of his musical selections. The exhibition catalogue features essays by Ann Demeester, Jan Hoet, and John Kelsey, among others.