Torbjørn Rødland
Torbjørn Rødland (born 3 April 1970) is a Los Angeles-based photographer known for portraits, still lives and landscapes that transcend their often banal settings and motifs and move into the otherworldly.[1] Since the late 1990s, his work has been exhibited widely. It was included in the main exhibition of the 1999 Venice Biennale. The Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art in Oslo arranged a retrospective exhibition of Rødland’s work in 2003.[2] Public collections also include Fonds national d'art contemporain (Paris), Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam), Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (Chicago), The Corcoran Gallery of Art (Washington, DC) and the Whitney Museum of American Art (New York City). After years of short stays in Tokyo, Beijing, Melbourne, Paris, Berlin, Oslo, Tallinn and New York City, Torbjørn Rødland has lived and worked in Los Angeles since 2010.
Rødland is currently represented by Air de Paris, Paris; Greenspon, New York; Galerie Rodolphe Janssen, Brussels; David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles; Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Zürich; Nils Stærk, Copenhagen; STANDARD (OSLO), Oslo.
Background and Education
Rødland was born in 1970 in Stavanger, Norway. He studied Photography at the National College of Art and Design in Bergen, Norway and cultural studies at the Rogaland University Centre in Stavanger, Norway.
Work
Rødland's photography moves from genre to genre; portrait, landscape, still life can all be found in his constructed imagery of the everyday, whether in his Scandinavian hometown or in visual translations and explorations of Japanese Moé aesthetics or Americana.[3] Wanting to push forward the artistic boundaries of his medium, Rødland has reconceptualized and integrated aesthetic qualities dismissed in postmodern art. Building on the work by The Pictures Generation and Jeff Wall, Rødland's photography represents a surprising revaluation of lyricism and what he calls the sensuality of the photographic moment.[4] Originally known for his images of young beauties, Rødland transcended this potential trope by consistently inventing new lures for viewers of his photographs.[5] An example of these lures is the subtle co-existence of the twisted with the warm normalcy of his figures; as seen in his photograph of a woman's hand with an octopus tentacle creeping through her sleeve and wrapped around her fingers.[6] Also a subtle symbol of nonduality, this image is characteristic of Rødland's work.[7] His matter of factness, even in stylized imagery and multiple exposures, is what allows Rødland to straddle both the commonplace and the otherworldly.[8] Or, as curator Bennett Simpson put it in an essay on Rødland, published in 2000: "His images are subjunctive; they operate under the yoke of a doubt, an impacted desire, the possibility of an impossibility."[9]
Between 2004 and 2007 Rødland produced six video works. One of these, titled 132 BPM, was exhibited solo at MoMA PS1 (Long Island City)[10] and at the Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art (Hiroshima).
Books
- Confabulations, MACK: London, June 2016. ISBN 9781910164631[11]
- Sasquatch Century, Mousse Publisher / Henie Onstad Art Center : Milano / Oslo, 2015. ISBN 9788867491308 [12]
- Vanilla Partner, MACK: London, October 2012. ISBN 9781907946318[13]
- Andy Capp Variations, Hassla: New York, 2011. ISBN 9780982547168[14]
- A day in the life of.., Libraryman: Stockholm, 2009. ISBN 9789186269029[15]
- I Want to Live Innocent, SteidlMACK: Göttingen, February 2008. ISBN 9783865216175[16]
- White Planet, Black Heart, SteidlMACK: Göttingen, June 2006. ISBN 3865212220[17]
Solo Exhibitions
- 2016 : Matthew Mark Luke John and Other Photographs, Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Zürich
- 2015 : Venetian Otaku, Team (Bungalow), Venice CA
- 2015 : I Am a Photograph, Galerie Rodolphe Janssen, Brussels*
- 2015 : Corpus Dubium, Algus Greenspon, New York
- 2015 : The Face I Found I Will Find Again, Standard (Oslo), Oslo
- 2015 : Sasquatch Century, Henie-Onstad Art Centre, Oslo*
- 2014 : The Yellow Shell, Kunsthall Stavanger, Stavanger
- 2013 : Torbjørn Rødland, Algus Greenspon, New York
- 2013 : American Photography, Nils Stærk, Copenhagen, Denmark
- 2012 : Before Behind Above Below, Air de Paris, Paris, France
- 2011 : Eighteen Analouge Double Exposures, Standard (Oslo), Oslo, Norway
- 2010 : A Black Ant Traveling, Michael Benevento, Los Angeles, California
- 2010 : 132 BPM, Studio Exhibition, Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, Hiroshima, Japan
- 2010 : Dearest Kitty, Nils Staerk, Copenhagen, Denmark
- 2009 : Pyromancy, Galerie Rodolphe Janssen, Brussels, Belgium
- 2009 : Andy Capp Variations, Standard (Oslo), Oslo, Norway
- 2008 : Flegma, Sorlandet Art Museum, Kristiansand, Norway
- 2008 : Myke Ekko/Soft Echos, The Festival of North Norway, Harstad, Norway
- 2008 : Go to the VIP Room, Air de Paris, Paris, France
- 2007 : Heads, Hands, Liquids, Michael Benevento, Los Angeles, California
- 2007 : More Whenever Minutes, Standard (Oslo), Oslo, Norway
- 2006 : Uglesommer, Huagar Art Museum,Tonsberg, Norway
- 2006 : Fantasies Are Facts, Kodama Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
- 2006 : The Exorcism of Mother Teresa, Rochester Art Center, Rochester, Minnesota
- 2006 : 132 BPM, P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center, Long Island City, New York
- 2005 : Dark Overground Light Underground, Nils Staerk Contemporary Art, Copenhagen, Denmark
- 2004 : Grave with a View, Goteborg Museum of Art, Gothenburg, Sweden
- 2004 : Herning Kunstmuseum, Denmark
- 2003 : More Songs, Buildings and Girls, Air de Paris, Paris
- 2003 : Goodnight Moon, Goodnight Room, Goodnight Breasts, Galleri Wang, Oslo
- 2003 : Rogaland Kunstmuseum, Stavenger, Norway
- 2003 : Grave with a View, Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, Oslo, Norway
- 2002 : Black, Ars Futura, Zurich, Switzerland
- 2001 : Priests, Art & Public, Geneva, Switzerland
- 2001 : White, Jack Hanely Gallery, San Francisco, California
- 2001 : Everything as Always, Nils Staerk Contemporary Art, Copenhagen, Denmark
- 2001 : Rocks, Galleri Wang, Oslo, Norway
- 1999 : Joy inside my Tears, Air de Paris, Paris, France
- 1999 : Even Now, Galleri Wang, Oslo, Norway
- 1998 : Close Encounter, Arkipilag, The Hallwyl Museum, Stockholm, Sweden
- 1997 : Norrtalje Konsthall, Norrtalje, Sweden
- 1996 : Galleri Wang, Oslo, Norway
Group Exhibitions
- 2016 : What People Do for Money, Manifesta 11, Luma Westbau, Zürich
- 2016 : LIT, 9th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art, Akademie der Künste, Berlin
- 2015 : Misanthrope-NY, Mathew, New York
- 2015 : Tree House Down, Ibid. Los Angeles
- 2015 : Mon horizontalité, Galerie Untilthen, Paris
- 2015 : Eat Abstractedly, Mary Mary, Glasgow
- 2014 : Natura Lapsa, Le Confort Moderne, Poitiers
- 2014 : The Elephant Test, Lothringer13 Städtische Kunsthalle München, Munich
- 2014 : Everything falls faster than an anvil, Pace Gallery, London
- 2014 : Lens Reflex, Thomas Duncan Gallery, Los Angeles
- 2014 : The Body Issue, Hannah Hoffman Gallery, Los Angeles
- 2013 : Sea Salt and Cross Passes, The Modern Institute, Glasgow
- 2013 : Altars of Madness, Casino Luxembourg, Luxembourg; Le Confort Moderne, Poitiers
- 2013 : Rien faire et laisser rire, Galerie Rodolphe Janssen, Brussels
- 2013 : Standard Escape Routes, Standard (Oslo), Oslo
- 2012 : Lost and Found: Anonymous Photography In Reflection, Ambach & Rice, Los Angeles, California
- 2012 : Inside the Banana, Algus Greenspon, New York, New York
- 2012 : The Crystal Chain, Invisible-Exports, New York, New York
- 2011 : The Eye is a Lonely Hunter: Images of Humankind, Heidelberger Kunstverein, Heidlberg, Germany
- 2011 : Sam Samore, Tørbjorn Rødland, Ryan McGinley, Galerie Rodolphe Janssen, Brussels, Belgium
- 2011 : Our House in the Middle of the Street, Maison des Arts de Malakoff, Paris, France
- 2011 : Catalogue of the Exhibition, Triple V, Paris, France
- 2011 : Train Fantome, Cruise & Callas, Berlin, Germany
- 2010 : La Suite, Air de Paris, Paris, France
- 2010 : The Front Room, Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri
- 2009 : Summer Show, Hotel, London, England
- 2009 : Phot(o)bjects, Presentation House Gallery, Vancouver, Canada; Lawrimore Project, Seattle, Washington
- 2009 : Backstrom/Mannikko/Rødland, Mai 36 Galerie Showroom, Zurich, Switzerland
- 2009 : N’importe quoi, Musee d’Art Contemporain de Lyon, Lyon, France
- 2009 : To Be Determined, Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York, New York
- 2009 : A Winters Tale, Gl. Holtegaard, Holte, Denmark
- 2008 : The Station [inaugural exhibition], The Station, Miami, Florida
- 2008 : Disturbance, Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
- 2008 : Nordic Moods – The Landscape in Contemporary Nordic Photography, Arken Museum for Moderne Kunst, Ishøj, Denmark
- 2008 : Research on Men in Art Today, The John Institute, Palace, St. Gallen, Switzerland
- 2007 : Destroy Athens, Athens Biennial, Athens, Greece
- 2007 : Mad Love, Arken Museum for Moderne Kunst, Ishøj, Denmark
- 2007 : People Take Pictures of Each Other, Lamontagne Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts
- 2007 : Beneath the Underdog, Gagosian Gallery Madison Avenue, New York, New York
- 2007 : Hello I am Crashing, Salon 94, New York, New York
- 2007 : Rock n’ Roll Vol. 1, Norrkopings Konstmuseum, Norrkoping; Sorlandet Art Museum, Kristiansand, Norway
- 2006 : Dreamlands Burn, Kunsthalle Budapest, Budapest, Hungary
- 2006 : Olaf Breuning & Torbjorn Rodland, Galeria Leyendecker, Santa Cruz de Tenerife
- 2006 : Fiction, La Box, Bourges, France
- 2006 : Cold, Cold Heart, Courtauld Institute of Art, Somerset House, London, England
- 2006 : Mafia (or One Unopened Packet of Cigarettes), STANDARD (OSLO), Oslo, Norway
- 2006 : Draft Deceit, Kunstnerses Hus, Oslo, Norway
- 2005 : Trials and Terrors, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, Illinois
- 2005 : Musica-video-musica, Reina Sofia Museum Madrid, Spain
- 2005 : 5 X U, Team Gallery, New York, New York
- 2005 : Greater New York, P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, Long Island City, New York, New York
- 2005 : Similarities and Differences, Preus Museum, Horten, Norway
- 2005 : De Natura, Abbaye Saint-Andre, Meymac, France
- 2004 : Nordic Art, Museum Kuppersmuhle, Duisburg, Germany
- 2004 : Geschiebe, Haus fur Kunst Uri, Altdorf, Germany
- 2004 : Anders Zorn og Nordisk Samtidskunst, Arken Museum for Moderne Kunst, Ishoj, Denmark
- 2004 : Momentum – Nordic Festival of Contemporary Art, Moss, Norway
- 2004 : 20/20 Vision, Stedelijk Museum CS, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- 2003 : Regarde, il neige (schizogeographie de la vie quotidienne), Le Centre national d’art et du paysage de Vassivee en Limousin, Vassiviee, France
- 2003 : The Politics of the Place, BildMuseet, Umea; Edsvik Konst och Kultur, Sollentuna, Sweden
- 2003 : Beyond Paradise, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
- 2003 : Yours Truly, Nils Staerk Contemporary Art, Copenhagen, Denmark
- 2002 : Fundamentalism of the New Order, Charlottenborg, Copenhagen
- 2002 : View Finder, Arnolfini, Bristol, England
- 2002 : The Golden Weekend, Kodama Gallery, Osaka; Gallery Side 2, Tokyo, Japan
- 2002 : Heroes and Holies, Invited ev+a, Limerick City Gallery of Art, Limerick, Ireland
- 2002 : On Top of the World, Gio Marconi Gallery, Milan, Italy
- 2002 : Beyond Paradise, National Gallery, Bangkok, Thailand; National Art Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- 2002 : The Politics of the Place, BildMuseet, Umea; Edsvik Konst och Kultur, Sollentuna, Sweden
- 2001 : If a double-decker bus crashes into us.., Air de Paris, Paris, France
- 2001 : Make me feel, Art Athina 2001, Helexpo Exhibition Centre, Athens, Greece
- 2001 : Interferenze, Paesi Nordici, Palazzo delle Pappesse, Siena, Italy
- 2001 : Angel Heart, Air de Paris, Paris, France
- 2001 : Spring, Galleria Laura Pecci, Milano, Italy
- 2001 : In vivo, Centre Régional d’Art Contemporain, Sète, France
- 2001 : Kjærleikens ferjereiser, Lofoten International Art Festival, Svolvær, Norway
- 2000 : Living, part I, Chicago project room, Los Angeles, California
- 2000 : Utopia, Rogaland Kunstmuseum, Stavanger, Norway
- 2000 : Viva Scanland, Catalyst Arts, Belfast, Northern Ireland
- 2000 : Elysian Fields, Purple Institute, Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
- 2000 : Park, Momentum–Nordic Festival of Contemporary Art, Moss, Norway
- 2000 : Organising Freedom, Nordic Art of the ‘90s, Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden;
- 2000 : Organising Freedom, Charlottenborg, Copenhagen, Denmark
- 2000 : Stadt/Land/Mensch, Galerie Arndt & Partner, Berlin, Germany
- 1999 : Palace, The Modern Institute, Glassbox, Paris, France
- 1999 : Surveying the Landscape, Lombard Freid Fine Arts, New York, New York
- 1999 : Can you hear me?, 2nd Ars Baltica Triennial of Photographic Art, Stadtgalerie im Kulturviertel Sophienhof, Kiel, Germany; [2000] Kunsthalle, Rostock; Kunst Haus Dresden, Germany
- 1999 : Composite, The National Museum of Contemporary Art, Oslo, Norway
- 1999 : dAPERTutto, 48th International Exhibition of Contemporary Art, La Biennale di Venezia, Italy
- 1999 : Near and Elsewhere, The Photographers’ Gallery, London, England
- 1999 : Signs of life, The Melbourne International Biennial, Melbourne, Australia
- 1999 : Wall 6>> Landscape #3, Air de Paris, Paris, France
- 1998 : Nordic Nomads, White Columns, New York, New York
- 1998 : Standard Keyboard, The Pineapple, Malmö, Sweden
- 1998 : Slipstream, Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow, Scotland
- 1998 : La Voie Lactée, as proposed by the Purple Institute, Alleged, New York, New York
- 1998 : Fellessentralen, Cultural Production in Norway in the Nineties, Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo, Norway
- 1997 : Nor-A-Way, Stadtgalerie im Kulturviertel Sophienhof, Kiel, Germany
- 1997 : Alikeness, Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne; Canberra Contemporary Artspace, Canberra, Australia
- 1996 : i am curious: These Days, Cubitt Gallery, London, England
- 1996 : Straight from the heart, Valokuvagalleria Hippolyte, Helsinki, Finland
- 1995 : Call of the Wild, Transmission Gallery, Glasgow, Scotland
Press
- Campbell, Max "A Norwegian Artist's Memory Disturbances." The New Yorker, June 2016
- Sholis, Brian, "Torbjørn Rødland". Aperture 221 November 2015
- Sholis, Brian, "Torbjørn Rødland". Frieze, Issue 173, August 2015.
- Johnson, Ken "Review: Torbjorn Rodland Mixes the Religious With the Evocative", The New York Times, June 12, 2015
- Gavin, Francesca, "Torbjørn Rødland." Dazed Digital, January 2013.
- TIME Photo Department, "TIME's Best of 2012: The Photo Books We Loved." TIME, December 2012.
- The Photo Department, "Our Top 10 Photo Books of 2012." New York Times Magazine, December 2012.
- Storm, Christian, "Visiting the Art Exhibits in Torbjørn Rødland's Dreams." Vice, November 2012.
- Rødland, Torbjørn, "Sentences on Photography." Triple Canopy, May 2011.
- Taft, Catherine, "Torbjørn Rødland at Michael Benevento." Artform, October 2010.
- Nickas, Bob, "The Perverted Photography of Torbjørn Rødland." Vice, January 2009.
- Lavalette, Shane, "Torbjørn Rødland in Conversation." Photo-Eye Magazine, October 2008.
- Røed, Kjetil, “Books: I Want To Live Innocent.” Artreview, June 2008: Issue 23.
- Kessler, Sarah, “Torbjørn Rødland: Opposites Must Never Cease to Come Together.” Whitewall, April 2008.
- Blank, Gil, "Interview: Torbjørn Rødland." Uovo Magazine, March 2007.
- Herbert, Martin, "Profile: Torbjørn Rødland." Contemporary Magazine, September 2004.
- Fox, Dan, "Another Green World." Frieze, June-August 2001: Issue 60.
References
- ↑ The Photo Department. "Our Top 10 Photo Books of 2012". New York Times Magazine. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
- ↑ http://afmuseet.no/en/samlingen/utvalgte-kunstnere/r/torbjarn-radland
- ↑ Gavin, Francesca. "Torbjørn Rødland". Dazed Digital. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
- ↑ Blalock, Lucas with Rødland and an introduction by Hoffman, Jens, Folding the Periphery, Mousse #42, Milan 2014, pp.118
- ↑ Herbert, Martin. "Profile: Torbjørn Rødland". Contemporary Magazine. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
- ↑ http://scs-assets-cdn.vice.com/int/v16n7/htdocs/torbjorn-rodland-perverted-photo-947/2.jpg
- ↑ Blalock, Lucas with Rødland and an introduction by Hoffman, Jens, Folding the Periphery, Mousse #42, Milan 2014, pp.119
- ↑ Nickas, Bob. "The Perverted Photography of Torbjørn Rødland". Vice. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
- ↑ Simpson, Bennett, "Torbjørn Rødland's Sentimental Education", Nu: The Nordic Art Review 2000/No.3-4, Stockholm, pp.52-59
- ↑ http://momaps1.org/exhibitions/view/108
- ↑ http://www.mackbooks.co.uk/books/1130-Confabulations.html
- ↑ http://www.moussepublishing.com/products-page/product/torbjorn-rodland-sasquatch-century/
- ↑ http://www.mackbooks.co.uk/books/40-Vanilla-Partner.html
- ↑ http://www.hasslabooks.com/tr11_001.html
- ↑ http://www.libraryman.se/aditlotr/
- ↑ http://www.mackbooks.co.uk/books/685-I-Want-to-Live-Innocent.html
- ↑ http://www.mackbooks.co.uk/books/382-White-Planet-Black-Heart.html