Kouros of Tenea

Black and white archival pigment print photographs behind tinted framed glass

Ed. 1,2 sold

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The project relates to the intricate relationship between ancient Greek marble sculpture and colour. Despite the sculptures polychrome origin, the white marble surface is intrinsically linked to the reception of sculptures from the period.

The photographs are of canonized, ancient Greek and Roman sculptures from The Glyptothek in Munich and the Vatican Museum in Rome. They are juxtaposed wit marble sculptures commissioned by Mussolini in the 1940s. In an attempt to link artistic ties between the fascist party and the grandeur of the Roman Empire, they invoke one of its most emblematic symbols: white marble sculptures. Even though it was since long known that antique sculpture initially was polychrome.

In the photographic work, the lost colours are re-instated. The framed glass is tinted with colours from conservational research on antique sculpture, like a veil through which the black-and-white photographs are presented.

Parts of the series has been shown at the photo triennial "New Visions" at the Henie Onstad Art Centre (2020) where Gleditsch was one of five Norwegian photographers in the selection of 31 artists in the exhibition.

Part of the series is in the collection of the Henie Onstad Art Centre and KORO.

60 x 40 cm
Edition: 5
NOK 18,000.00
+ 5% art tax

Espen Gleditsch (b. 1983, Holmestrand, NO) holds an MFA from the Academy of Fine Art in Oslo.

Gleditsch works mainly with photography and text. 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, 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.

On the Whispering Wind, QB Gallery, Oslo, NO
2023
mmmMarbles, Kunstnerforbundet, Oslo, NO
2022
New Visions (group), Henie Onstad Art Centre, NO
2020
Den Siste Festen (group), QB Gallery, Oslo, NO
2020
25-year Anniversary Exhibition (group), Haugar Art Museum, Tønsberg, NO
2020
Munchs Hus (group), Haugar Art Museum, Tønsberg, NO
2018
Polymorphous Magical Substance (solo), Bergen Kunsthall, NO
2017
The Young Lions (group), Preus Museum, Horten, NO
2017
Lucia (group), QB Gallery & Blomqvist Kunsthandel, Oslo, NO
2017
Dislocating Surfaces - New Scandinavian Photography (group), Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo, NO
2016
A Place by the Sea, Noplace, Oslo, NO & Frama, Copenhagen, DK
2016
Polymorphous Magical Substance (solo), Kunstnerforbundet, Oslo, NO
2016
White Lies (solo), Fotogalleriet [format], Malmö, SE
2015
Black Mountain. An Interdisciplinary Experiment 1933 – 1957, performance program (group), Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart, Berlin, DE
2015
All maten du åt og tankene i hjernen (group), Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo, NO
2015

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