TORBJØRN RØDLAND: "Reset"

STANDARD (OSLO)

PRESS RELEASE

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TORBJØRN RØDLAND

"RESET"

04.12.2020-06.02.2021 / PREVIEW: 04.12.2020 / 12.00-19.00

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STANDARD (OSLO) is proud to present a solo exhibition of ten new photographs by Norwegian artist Torbjørn Rødland.

A.

Two bouquets of flowers blooming: greeting the summer sun from where they are placed in the window sill. Two carrots hastily peeled: making stripes of dry skin appear next to darker stripes of juice emerging. A slice of pizza with pineapples: the shiny chunks of pineapples outweighing the dough and tomato sauce as well as any sense of original recipe. A wood log roughly cut: the growth rings clearly visible - laying bare its many years. These are all still lifes both idle and brimming with the texture of life - cut and made inanimate while life is still seeping through.

B.

Or attempting at capturing life as it is getting paused. All ten photographs in Torbjørn Rødland's exhibition stem from the past months of the global pandemic and seem to address a life that is being questioned or made uncertain. Ancient depictions and current crisis of trust are woven into each other in two photographs portraying a younger and an older man in the act of self-castration. What once was a symbol of religious devotion now resonates with recent events and the constant questioning of medicine and science. The photographs, with their blending of what is real, what is unreal and what could be real, give the appearance of a rushed decision - a frantic response to a frantic time. However, they also address an aspect of this historic moment where idleness is causing a restlessness that is causing a willingness to abandon thought leadership and central structures to our society.

C.

When asked the question, what does an image consist of, Rødland's answer was: "Layers upon layers of perception and identification." What we see, what we had already seen and what can now not be unseen. What we know, what we already knew, and what can now not be unknown. Who we are, who we were, and who we can now no longer remain.

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This is Torbjørn Rødland's fifth solo exhibition at STANDARD (OSLO) - his first at the gallery in six years - and coincides with a solo exhibition by Chadwick Rantanen. Both artists being located in Los Angeles, being friends and eager supporters of each other, the two solo exhibitions merge in the galleries central and third exhibition space - making a joint presentation of Rantanen's sculptures and Rødland's photographs. The exhibition also coincides with Rødland's exhibition, "The Bible Eye", opening at The Contemporary Austin, Texas, in January 2021. Other recent solo exhibitions include Bergen Kunsthall, Bergen; Bonniers Konsthall, Stockholm; Kiasma, Helsinki; Serpentine Gallery, London; Fondazione Prada / Milan Osservatorio, Milan; C/O Berlin, Berlin; and Kunsthall Stavanger, Stavanger. His work is in the permanent collections of museums that include Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York; Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, Oslo; Malmö Art Museum, Sweden; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Museum of Modern Art, New York; and Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Rødland lives and works in Los Angeles.

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Installation photography: Vegard Kleven