1/11/2012
Ingrid Berven / Lillian Presthus
NoOsphere, New York
C Ya! Presthus is known for her paintings of domestic scenarios and family life. Berven is one of Norway's multimedia artists with a strong social and political voice. This exhibition is the first in a series of collaboration projects between the two artists scheduled throughout the next two years.
NOoSPHERE Arts, an artist‐run, nonprofit exhibition and performance venue on the Lower East
Side of Manhattan, is pleased to present C YA!, featuring visual artists Ingrid W. Berven and Lillian Presthus. Presthus is
primarily known for her paintings of domestic scenarios and family life. Ingrid Berven is one of Norway’s most respected
multimedia artists with a strong social and political voice. This exhibition is the first in a series of collaboration projects
between the two artists scheduled throughout the next two years.
C YA! – short for see you – is not only a parting comment, but also acknowledgement that somebody has noticed another
person. In turn, it may also represent an outside observer looking at the world, but not sharing in it. Berven/Presthus
allow us to share in what they have observed, leaving us to analyze, consider, accept or reject their observations.
In her deconstruction and transformation project, Lillian Presthus started shredding her old paintings into thin strips
before weaving them together as new work. Meticulously, she tore up years’ worth of family portraits, then reassembled
the pieces to re‐stitch the remains with methodical precision and dogged efforts. The result is a whole new series of work
where slices of life can be glimpsed in‐between the interwoven strips of canvas. The original themes vanished. Through a
painful process, what used to be cohesive works speaking of identity and remembrance became fragments of narratives
and shards of identity.
Ingrid W. Berven questions authority and the art world. In her videos, she becomes an outside observer of a system that
defines art on her behalf. She comments on the power structures of the art world; the curators, market mechanisms and
issues of integrity. In her videos, through the lens of her camera and in her installations, the artist casts herself as the
spectator. Her comments on the heavy hand of the market are highly relevant. Berven also works with themes of identity
and belonging. She offers insights into the world we live in; our consumerism, lifestyle, shallowness and greed. Acute
observations of life, Berven’s pieces make us reflect on the systems of which we all are part.
Ingrid W. Berven (Norway) trained as a visual artist at Bergen National Academy of Arts in Bergen and in Helsinki, and also
attended the Grieg Academy for Music. Working within the fields of new media, she has completed a series of
commissions and shown widely in her native country and abroad. She has also served as a curator and stage designer for
theater troupes, and was the initiator of the artist‐run gallery BY THE WAY – Gallery of Contemporary Art, Bergen.
(www.berven.no )
Lillian Presthus (Norway) studied fine art in Norway and Finland. She is a painter who is influenced by textile tradition.
Identity and family relations are recurring themes. A recipient of several grants, Presthus has shown extensively in the
Scandinavian countries, received several public commissions, and is represented in the collection of Art Council Norway.
(www.lillianpresthus.com)
Bjørn Inge Follevaag (Norway) graduated from the Curatorial Program at Bergen Academy of Art and Design. For almost
20 years, he served as gallery manager for the arts venue 3,14 in Bergen; an artist‐run gallery focusing on art from beyond
Europe. A multilingual writer who just joined the NOoSPHERE team as our international representative, Follevaag has
specialized in Asian art. Together with co‐curator Feng Boyi, he is now presenting Real Life Stories at Art Museums Bergen
with a world premiere of a new installation by the renowned Chinese artist Ai Weiwei. He has previously worked with
Paula Cooper Gallery, NYC, on the production of Andres Serrano’s mid‐career retrospective Placing Time and Evil, which
toured Europe at the turn of the millennium. Upcoming projects include the co‐curation of two exhibits at Contemporary
Art Museum of Suchow, Shanghai, China: Nordic women in contemporary art and Beyond Glaze, a show of contemporary
ceramic art.
Image: Ingrid W. Berven, Artist Avant-garde. Video still
Opening Reception: Fri, Nov 2, 6‐8pm
NOoSPHERE Arts
251 East Houston Street, btw. Norfolk & Suffolk Streets.
Subway: 2nd Avenue–Lower East Side on the F‐train.
Gallery hours are Tue‐Sun 12– 6pm
Admission free