Siri Aurdal

Siri Aurdal (b. 1937 in Oslo) received her artistic education from Statens Håndverk og Kunstindustriskole and Statens Kunstakademi in Oslo 1956-61, with a focus on figurative sculpture and printmaking. After an exhibition at Galleri Kringla in Oslo in 1968, where she for the first time showed an installation with elements of colored plexiglas, her interest went in the direction of sculpture made from industrial products designed for construction and infrastructure. Aurdal was an active and innovative artist throughout the 1960s and ´70s, and as part of the politically radical artist group GRAS, Aurdal’s module-based sculptures and choice of materials expressed a belief in the political, collective and social role of art. The exhibition Omgivelser (Environments) at Kunstnernes Hus in 1969, consisted of a monumental sculpture composed of several units assembled from fiberglass reinforced polyester tubes, and was a striking manifestation of her ability to design large scale structures with prefabricated materials.

In 2016, in collaboration with the artist Eline Mugaas, this work was reconstructed with the title Bølgelengder (Wavelengths) in the exhibition Aurdal/Mugaas at Kunstnernes Hus, and led to a renewed interest in Aurdal’s artistry. In 2017, Aurdal represented Norway in the Nordic pavilion at the Venice Biennale, and in 2018 Malmö Konsthall presented Continuum, her largest exhibition to date. For the opening of the National Museum in Oslo in 2022, the work Bølgelengder was installed in the building’s largest atrium. Siri Aurdal lives and works in Oslo.

Selected works

Biography

Siriaurdal portrait photoelinemugaas
Photo: Eline Mugaas

Born 1937 in Oslo, Norway
Lives and works in Oslo

En kunstners arbeid – Siri Aurdal – NRK TV

EDUCATION

1957- 1961 National Academy of Fine Arts, Oslo

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2023 Vår (with Synnøve Anker Aurdal), Galleri Riis, Oslo
2019 Conversation, Galleri Riis
2018 Continuum, Malmö Konsthall, Malmö, Sweden
2016 Bølger i parken / Wavelenghts, Frognerparken, Oslo
2016 Aurdal/Mugaas, Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo
1969 Omgivelser, Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo
1968 Galleri Kringla, Oslo
1966 Kunstforeningen, Oslo

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2022 First the Good News, KODE, Bergen, Norway
2020 Et Kollektivt Kaosmos, Kunsthall Oslo
2018 The Arcade Gallery: Siri Aurdal / Eline Mugaas, Skissernas Museum, Lund, Sweden
2017 The Nordic Pavilion at the Venice Biennale : Mirrored
2016 Inauguration of new space, Galleri Riis, Oslo
2013 Hold stenhårdt fast på greia di, Kunsthall Oslo, Oslo
1979 The 15th Biennial, Antwerpen, Belgium
1973 Arkitektonisk miljø, Galleri F15, Moss, Norway
1972 Norsk skulptur, Nordjyllands Museum, Aalborg, Denmark
1972 Gras, Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo
1971 Synspunkter, Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo
1971 Synspunkter, Arkiv för dekorativ konst, Lund, Sweden
1968 The Nordic Youth Biennial, Helsinki, Finland
1968 Ung generasjon, Stockholm, Sweden
1968 Galleri Kringla, Oslo
1967 U.K.S. Vårutstilling, Oslo
1966 Oslo Kunstforening, Oslo
1965 De 14, Stavanger, Norway
1964 3 generasjoner, OK, Oslo
1963 6 unge, University of Oslo, Oslo
1961-1963 Høstutstillingen, Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo