Espen Gleditsch in Sentimental Value
In Joachim Trier's latest film, Sentimental Value (2025), Espen Gleditsch is featured with the work Aphrodite, cradled in her mother's lap (2022).
The Norwegian produced film has achieved historic success internationally, being nominated for 8 Golden Globe Awards and 9 Oscar Academy Awards. Trier choosing to showcase real Norwegian art in such a prestigious film, is a significant milestone for both Gleditsch and the Norwegian visual art scene. Aphrodite, cradled in her mother's lap is integrated into the main family's home in Frogner, which is one of the central parts of the storyline.
The work is from the series mmmMarbles (2022) and expands on the Parthenon-frieze. Read more about Gleditsch's marble series here.
Espen Gleditsch (b. 1983, Holmestrand, NO) holds an MFA from the Academy of Fine Art in Oslo.
Gleditsch works mainly with photography. His projects often take historical events, artworks or architecture as points of departure, where shifts of meaning and misinterpretations have played a decisive role in their dissemination and reception. In recent exhibitions antique sculpture, architecture and colour have been recurring motifs. In his works, Gleditsch explores the mechanisms behind historiography, the construction of historical narratives, unintended shifts of meaning and diffuse borders between subjective experience and objective facts.
Gleditsch is acquired by Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Equinor Art Programme, Oslo Municipality Art collection, KORO (Art in Public Norway), The University of Oslo, Preus Museum, The Møller Art Collection, Storebrand Art Collection, The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norges Bank, MoMA library, artist book collection and Haugar Kunstmuseum.
