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Opening Lars Lerin and Manoel Marques Lerin, October 2017. Photo: Kunstverket Galleri
Blazing the trail for art on paper From Her Majesty the Queen of Norway to young, new artists, Kunstverket Galleri in Oslo has a unique breadth of art and artists to show their visitors, showcasing work by over 200 different Nordic artists.
contemporary prints our niche. Since then, we have also included other works on paper in our exhibition,” says director Petter U. Morken.
By Linnea Dunne | Photos: Kunstverket Galleri / Trond Isaksen
Located right in the middle of the art district, in the historic area of Kvadraturen in Oslo, Kunstverket is one of the leading privately owned galleries for prints and fine art on paper in the Nordic region, showcasing what they regard as the foremost graphic artists from the region. One of the most dynamic aspects of the gallery is its comprehensive exhibitions programme, with a focus on solo exhibitions by established artists showing new works, as well as dynamic group exhibitions with up-and-coming talents. 44 | Issue 113 | June 2018
The gallery opened in 1989 and started out exhibiting graphic prints produced by artists at the lithography workshop next door. It soon widened its scope, making contacts with artists and workshops not only throughout Norway but also in the neighbouring countries Sweden, Denmark and Finland. “We realised that printmaking in the Nordic region had its own characteristics and generally held a high level of craftsmanship and quality. Moreover, we found that none of the high-street galleries exhibited prints, so we made Nordic
Nordic printmaking as a tradition started when Edvard Munch (1863-1944) experimented with graphic art as a contemporary medium in the 1890s. Building on these traditions, Nordic artists have since evolved the craft, common influences being melancholy and a strong connection to the characteristic nature of the Nordic regions. In the late 1960s, a graphic wave emerged on the Norwegian art scene, where artists started using editions of prints as a medium to spread their often left-wing political views and to democratise the art scene. One of the leading