ARVEN
ARVEN is an exhibition project initiated by Kunsthall Grenland, presenting new works by the artists Ebbe Arneberg, Merete Fransegjerde, Martin Woll Godal, Irene Nordli, Linda Morell, Tonje Paus and Trine Wester.
The works in the exhibition take as their starting point a range of original casting moulds from Porsgrunds Porselænsfabrik, spanning the factory’s earliest production up to the present day. Since its establishment in 1885, the factory has been a significant local manufacturer, and for much of the twentieth century it helped define a new market in Norway for decorative objects and tableware in porcelain. The factory has since been of great importance to a number of leading Norwegian designers and artists working in ceramics, and has thereby left lasting traces in our shared artistic and cultural heritage.
Kunsthall Grenland has collaborated with the factory since 2015. The point of departure has been to convey parts of the Porsgrund porcelain history through exhibitions, workshops, seminars and publications. A key ambition has been to make this historical material relevant to new generations in a new era. A central project in this work is ARVEN, in which seven artists have worked with the factory’s original casting moulds over an extended period. Working with plaster, casting moulds and porcelain are fundamental techniques within the field of ceramics. The factory’s historical moulds have long been sought after as source material by artists and craftspeople with an interest in industrial production, design history and material culture. Through ARVEN, the artists have been given access to this material and have reworked parts of it on their own terms. The result is an exhibition of works that extend, hybridise and displace the expression of the original forms. Visitors are invited into a unique exploration of Norwegian art-industrial history, seen through the eyes of a group of artists.
Ebbe Arneberg · Merete Fransegjerde · Martin Woll Godal · Irene Nordli · Linda Morell · Tonje Paus · Trine Wester
The factory’s old casting moulds have long been a sought-after “material” for artists and craftspeople with an interest in industrial production. For industrial designers and ceramicists, working with plaster, casting moulds and casting slip is a fundamental and essential technique. In 2017–18, the artist Torbjørn Kvasbø cast the work «Vaseklase» at 1400 — more than 3,000 vase forms drawn from the factory’s long history, later shown in both Paris and Seoul.
A collaboration between Kunsthall Grenland, Porsgrunds Porselænsfabrik AS and Porselensmuseet at Telemark Museum. The full programme and images will be published ahead of the opening.
