On May 8th, the exhibition It Could Go Either Way opened at Rogaland Kunstsenter. Curated by New Orleans-based curator Amy Mackie, the exhibition highlights the collaborative work of artist Mariam Ghani (US) and dancer/choreographer Erin Ellen Kelly (US). The opening served as a premiere for Like Water From a Stone (2014), a new video work commissioned by Rogaland Kunstsenter and filmed at various locations in Rogaland County during the summer of 2013. The work was exhibitied alongside six additional video installations by the collaborative duo, including their dOCUMENTA (13) project, A Brief History of Collapses (2011-12) filmed in the Dar ul-Aman Palace in Kabul, Afghanistan and the Museum Fridericianum in Kassel, Germany. The works exhibited at Rogaland Kunstsenter elegantly combine Ghani’s interests in architecture, literature, and history with Kelly’s ongoing exploration of the politics of movement and the transformative nature of performance. Referred to by the artists as “performed places,” the videos are meditations on landscape, the human condition, and the passing of time. Read more about the exhibition on Rogaland Kunstsenter’s website, here.
Throughout her recent residency, the British artist Alice Browne has worked directly with the physical properties of Prosjektrom Normanns’ project space. The final result of her time spent in the studio space was revealed in a solo exhibition which opened on May 9th. While in Stavanger, the artist has explored concepts around space as surface and embedded her work in the architecture of Prosjektrom Normanns. By using the defined spaces of a canvas or a sheet of paper, Browne explores the tensions and peculiarities of ‘seeing’ depth in a two-dimensional surface in contrast to the true depth of its surroundings. She adapts forms from a variety of imaginary, representational and first-hand sources, before flattening and reworking them in the physical space. For more information, visit Prosjektrom Normann’s website, here.
At Galleri Opdahl, Stavanger-based artist Elin Melberg presented new works in her first solo exhibition with the gallery. The monumental works that are on view through May were created entirely in the six months following the death of the artist’s father. In grappling with her personal experience, the artist touches on universal human issues of vulnerability, loss of control, and the fragility of both life and memory. Utilizing a wide array of materials such as white cement, antique windows, wooden doors, latex, textiles, and foam, Melberg manipulates the material to call forth memory while simultaneously questioning the line between control and chaos. Read a full exhibition text by CAS editor Heather Jones, here.
