NOK 3.4 million has been allocated to art at NHH in connection with the renovation of the high-rise building and the rest of the buildings from 1963. Two new works of art by contemporary artists Tiril Hasselknippe and Kasper Bosmans have been commissioned, and a work by Eline McGeorge is to be purchased.
Jenny Kinge from KORO (Kunst i offentlig rom) chairs the art committee. She describes her first meeting with the current art collection at NHH in the art plan:
‘Our first visit to NHH was characterised by all the important artworks we saw on our tour of the building.
‘An abstract wall painting by Inger Sitter is displayed on the walls of the main building’s stairwell. At the top of the stairs is a tapestry by Frida Hansen, which shows red-haired mermaids rising up to the surface of the ocean. In Stupet [...] long, transparent flower curtains hang in front of the windows, also made by Frida Hansen. On another wall, the light shines through stained-glass pictures by Gerhard Munthe.’
‘We now want to highlight a selection of important works from the collection and acquire new works for NHH by recognised contemporary artists,’ says Kinge.
The art project is called ‘Sammenvevinger på tvers av tid’ (Interwoven across time).The art project is currently in the development phase and has yet to be finalised.
Tiril Hasselknippe: new work
Two of the three bronze sculptures by the Norwegian artist Tiril Hasselknippe (b. 1984) will emerge from the ground behind the high-rise building, between the slate terrace and the Lehmkuhl statue.
The main building’s symbolic and Brutalist architecture will be reflected in the sculptures, which show city centre models. The sculptures are also shaped as sundials (they symbolise the time it takes for the Earth to rotate around its own axis) and, in form, they visualise and question other notions of time.
Hasselknippe is interested in how decisions have an effect on society, and in the work on this series of sculptures, she looks at the axis of time and development.
Photo: Sketch by Tiril Hasselknippe. Reprinted with permission from the artist.
Kasper Bosmans: new work
While Tiril Hasselknippe questions the unforeseeable future, the Belgian artist Kasper Bosmans (b. 1990) takes us back in time to the Middle Ages, which was also the point of departure for Gerhard Munthe’s original, ornamental style. In a large enamelled work based on embroidery made by women in the early Middle Ages, Bosmans sees the past's forms and patterns in a contemporary light. Bosmans further develops these women’s – often personal – motifs, and weaves them into our own time. Similarly to Sissel Blystad’s ‘gulvteppe’ (carpet), Gerhard Munthe’s stained-glass pictures in Stupet and Inger Sitter’s wall painting, Bosman's work is seamlessly incorporated into the school's interior.
Bosmans’ work is anchored in historical research. He collects material from folk art, coats of arms, maps, myths, alphabets and symbols, and brings this material into his own work consisting of sculptures, paintings and installations. He analyses, divides and reorganises objects and symbols from different political, artistic and social orders. In his works, design, politics, technology and folk culture come together in an abstract and figurative style.
The large work of art is to cover the short wall in the hallway between the Servicebygget building and the high-rise building.
Photo: Sketch by Kasper Bosmans. Reprinted with permission from the artist.
Eline McGeorge: purchase
Photo: Reprinted with permission from Eline McGeorge and Hollybush Gardens.
NHH is set to purchase Eline McGeorge's (b. 1970) work ‘When Species Meet, Biomatic, Hand and Seeds’ from 2015. The framed work (35x26 cm) consists of inkjet print, watercolours and gouache. The motif shows a human hand with seeds, and the structure of the hand is reminiscent of a robot or an architectural cityscape against a blue sky.
In her work, McGeorge explores possible alliances between biotic forces, and we see a symbiosis or a network between species, seeds, pixels and machines.
McGeorge’s work will hang in the reception area on the lower ground floor of the main building, to the left of the spot where the skylight shines through.
In the work on mapping NHH’s collection, KORO has been introduced to an extensive collection of artworks (over 80 individual works) by mainly Norwegian artists. Since the opening of NHH in 1936, it has received many artworks as gifts.
The collection includes for instance 25 portrait paintings of male professors and rectors through the years. NHH also has a large collection of small items and arts and crafts by international and Norwegian artists, also given as gifts. Furthermore, several of the artworks at NHH have been acquired through new building projects in which KORO has been involved.
A central part of the art project will be measures to breathe new life into the artworks, carried out to highlight and contextualise a selection of works in the NHH collection.
The collection consists of several significant works by Norwegian women, several of which are textile-based works. The art project will focus on the tapestry, ‘Havfruer’, by Frida Hansen, stone carpet ‘GULV’ by Sissel Blystad, the seal ski wall hanging "Kors" by Anne Sæland and a monumental wall painting and a suspended painting by Inger Sitter. Other works included in the art project are the sculpture ‘Pan med tryllefløyten’ by Arne Vinje Gunnerud, the monumental sculpture ‘Triloglypt’ by Paller Pernevi, which stands by the entrance of the main building and a painting by Alf-Jørgen Aas.
KORO proposes tidying up the areas around the relevant art works already on display at NHH to create calm and focus. Works by Aas, Sæland, Sitter and Gunnerud will be moved to new positions.
The plan for the renovation project: "Sammenvevinger på tvers av tid" (pdf)
Read more about the rehabilitation project