Gallery: Tuesday – Saturday, 12 – 6 pm; FREE admission.
Nordic Models + Common Ground - The First in a Series of ASF Centennial Exhibitions, October 29, 2010 – March 9, 2011
Nordic Models + Common Ground, curated by the internationally-renowned architectural firm Snøhetta, offers a fresh look at art and design in the Nordic countries.
Presented in conjunction with the tenth anniversary of Scandinavia House and the centennial year of The American-Scandinavian Foundation, the exhibition presents the work of more than 35 designers and artists, both emerging talents and established names, with a special focus on the work of Atelier Oslo, Norway; Louise Campbell, Denmark; JKMM Architects, Finland; Hans Johannsson, Iceland; Daniel Rybakken, Norway; and Lars Tunbjörk, Sweden. The exhibition explores how open artistic and cultural exchange facilitates innovation in art and design.
Organized by Norsk Form in collaboration with The American-Scandinavian Foundation, Nordic Models + Common Ground was made possible by support from William B. and Inger Gundersen Ginsberg; The Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation; the ASF Centennial Fund; the Royal Norwegian Consulate General in New York; and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Exhibition designed by Snøhetta & Situ Studio.
About a selection of the artists and designers:
Atelier Oslo, noted for their highly refined, articulated designs, is a Norwegian architecture office started by Nils Ole Bae Brandtzæg, Thomas Liu, Marius Mowe, and Jonas Norsted.
Atelier Oslo, along with French studio AWP, won the Norwegian Wood competition for designing an engaging urban space for the Sandnes municipality plaza, as a part of a series of competitions organized to address different initiatives with art and design for Stavanger’s appointment of European Cultural Capital (2008).
In 2009 the firm won the competition for the new Deichman Main Library in Oslo in collaboration with Lund Hagem Architects and Agence Ter, landscape architects.
Louise Campbell (b. 1970, Copenhagen) holds degrees in Industrial Design from the London College of Furniture (1992) and Denmark’s Design School (1995). She set up her own studio in 1996, where she has worked independently since. Her focus is on furniture and lighting design, but the studio is increasingly involved in product design and interior design projects as well. The client list includes companies such as Louis Poulsen, Zanotta, HAY, Royal Copenhagen, Holmegaard, Stelton, Muuto, Interstop and The Danish Ministry of Culture. Campbell's work is purposeful, but still playful and experimental, and is increasingly gaining a reputation for gently twisting not only every day objects and situations, but also materials and manufacturing processes in new directions.
JKMM Architects was established in Helsinki in 1998 by partners Asmo Jaaksi, Teemu Kurkela, Samuli Miettinen and Juha Mäki-Jyllilä. Specializing in building design, interior design, urban planning, as well as renovation and restoration, their aim is to combine their passion for architecture with common sense, sensitivity for materials, and technical innovation, carefully deliberating architectural solutions in all phases of design.
In the past several years, they have designed many important public buildings including Kirnu, the Finnish Pavilion at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, the Turku City Library, and the Verkatehdas Factory Cultural Center in Hämeenlinna, and received over 56 prizes (including 20 first prizes) in architectural competitions in Finland, including the Finnish State Award for Architecture (2007), Finnish Steel Structure Award (2007), Finnish Glass Structure Award (2007), Finnish Concrete Structure Award (2007), and the Pietilä Award (2006).
Hans Johannsson makes violins, violas, cellos, double basses and various other stringed instruments. His passion for the violin started at an early age in the workshop of his grandfather Gudjon Halldorsson, a cabinet maker in Reykjavík, Iceland. Based on his own models and designs, Johannsson makes instruments for professional musicians all over the world. He rarely makes copies of his distinctive designs, supporting the belief of the great masters that emulation is only practical when serving an educational purpose.
Johannsson studied under Maurice Bouette and Glen Collins at the Newark School of Violin Making in Great Britain and received a Diploma of Distinction in 1980. In 1982 he subsequently received a Master’s Degree from the Icelandic Arts and Crafts Council. From 1983 to 1994 Johannsson worked at the Chateau de Bourglinster, a picturesque 12th-century castle in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.
Daniel Rybakken is a young Norwegian industrial designer with a studio in Sweden. Interested in studying daylight in photographs, prototypes, models, and drawings, his minimalist designs endeavor to recreate the quality of natural light as conveyed through ambient, artificial lighting. Rybakken is perhaps best known for his graduation project Subconscious Effect of Daylight (2008), a table that gives the illusion of daylight coming into a room by projecting light and the pattern of a shadow onto the floor. His works were recently exhibited in Salone Satellite 2010 Milan.
Lars Tunbjörk (b. 1956, Borås) is one of Sweden’s most respected photographers. While he previously worked in black and white, Tunbjörk now devotes his energy to the exploration of color in his work, which he approaches in the style of American photographers of the 1970s. His biting humor softens his often gritty and radical depictions of the absurd world in which we live.
Tunbjörk has exhibited widely in his native Sweden, including a solo exhibition at Moderna Museet. Additionally he has had solo and group shows across Europe and the U.S., including a solo exhibition at the International Center of Photography, featuring work from A Country Beside Itself (1993). In addition to A Country Beside Itself, Tunbjörk has published three other photo-books: Office (2002), Home (2002), I Love Borås (2006) and Vinter (2007).
