Everything is Connected, he, he, he

The Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art cordially invites you to visit our summer exhibition where several new works will be on show. The Museum is thrilled to be able to show art by artists such as Rirkrit Tiravanija, Cai Guo-Qiang and Jason Rhoades together with important works by Matthew Barney, along with a return visit of Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller’s popular installation The Paradise Institute.

This year’s summer exhibition at Astrup Fearnley Museum is entitled Everything is connected, he, he, he. It alludes ironically to the apparent absence of visual connections linking the artworks on show. The photographs, installations, sculptures and paintings span a multitude of visual approaches. That said, thematically, the works do share a conceptual origin and sense of social, political and cultural grounding.   

Derived from conceptual art’s commitment to art-as-idea, the revolutionary work developed by Felix Gonzalez-Torres broke with the traditional materialized aesthetic, the art work’s usual point of reference. Where the lofty artwork's imperious connotations once held sway, Gonzalez-Torres brought in interaction and communication between work and viewer. Despite his not having authored object-based masterworks, his socially sensitive and highly personal work had a seminal impact on many of our contemporary artists. Several of the other artists represented in the summer exhibition found inspiration in Gonzalez-Torres and his ground-breaking work. Artists such as Olafur Eliasson, Jason Rhoades, Rirkrit Tiravanija and Matthew Barney all produced work that draw the viewer into mediations on political, philosophical and cultural issues. It is worth mentioning that although the Museum acquired Barney’s 1991 installation Transsexualis (decline) several years ago, this is its first public showing. This important work provides many of the leads to his spectacular work The Cremaster Cycle. The exhibition also highlights an important work of the Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang. His sculpture The Eagle has Arrived (2001) could be seen as a cultural meditation on moves towards a common European union.

Everything is connected, he, he, he presents some of our most influential living artists. Coming from all over the world they set out a compelling culturally and politically informed picture of our own time. The Nordic art scene is represented by Olafur Eliasson, Michael Elmgren & Ingar Dragset, Annika von Hausswolff, Peter Land, Bjarne Melgaard, Torbjørn Rødland, Mari Slaattelid, Ann-Sofi Sidén, Børre Sæthre and Vibeke Tandberg.

Curators for this exhibition are Gunnar B. Kvaran, Grete Årbu and Hanne Beate Ueland. Pressetext

Everything is Connected, he, he, he
mit Cai Guo-Qiang, Jason Rhoades, Matthew Barney, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Cai Guo-Qiang , Janet Cardiff, George Bures Miller, u.a.
KuratorInnen: Gunnar B. Kvaran, Grete Årbu, Hanne Beate Ueland