Per Berntsen
Skol
May 6 – June 17, 2023

Skol is a new series of landscapes from an eponymous mountain area in Telemark, close to Per Berntsen’s home. Resulting from field work in the fall of 2021, these large archival inkjet prints on baryta paper represents a recognizable theme in Berntsen’s oeuvre, the unpopulated landscape, and this is his second exhibition featuring works printed in colour on baryta paper. The stony and lake-rich landscape is captured in its transition from fall to winter, always in overcast weather which accentuates its subdued hues.

We are pleased to present seven works from this series in the gallery’s annex space.

Per Berntsen (b. 1953) is a veteran of camera-based art in Norway and an important advocate for the medium’s rise and acceptance on the local art scene. Berntsen was educated at Trent Polytechnic / Derby College of Art, England, during the second half of the 1970’s and has exhibited actively since his debut in 1980 at Fotogalleriet in Oslo. Important projects include the 2008 publication and exhibition Generator at Galleri Riis, which featured 100 generator halls from hydroelectric power plants in southern Norway, and ‘Down Under Up North’ in 2010, a documentation and art project about the mining industry in Kirkenes. From 2013-2015, Berntsen undertook an artistic documentation of the Taiga, the landscape connecting the northern parts of Russia, Finland, Sweden and Norway. This project resulted in the publication and exhibition tour Metsä in 2018. In 2019, a new development in Berntsen’s work was introduced, with a series of landscapes from the Veståsen area in Telemark. Resulting from field work in 2018 and 2019, these large archival inkjet prints represented a similar theme, but they also marked a significant new departure as they were the first colour images that he had exhibited to date. Per Berntsen’s works can be found in the collections of MoMa, New York, Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, The National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, Oslo, Kode, Bergen, The City of Oslo Art Collections, Oslo.

Per Berntsen lives and works in Atrå (Tinn Municipality), Norway.