The originators of The Situationist International and The God Father of Disco. Chihuahuas, tigers and a somewhat transformed Light Bulb Man. What are the connections between Guy Debord, Michèle Bernstein, Giorgio Moroder and more familiar subject matter in Bjarne Melgaard’s imagery? His works are dense with entries and optional interpretations and the uncertainty one can experience looking at his pieces are fundamental to Melgaard’s work. Private mythologies or fictitious autobiographies are tangled up with cultural references and Nietzschean philosophy. With the means of an abstracted reality, Melgaard challenges authorities and questions preconceived notions on normality. Passion transcends reason through its anti-social nature in a quest for absolute, personal freedom. An ambition that echoes from Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord: the social alienation, consumerism and exploitation that shall be replaced with an autonomous, free and impassioned human existence. In Right Here, Right Now, Bjarne Melgaard’s eighth solo show at Lars Bohman Gallery, the focus is set at the artist as painter and draughtsman. Melgaard as a formalist with traditional interests in composition, color and form and with an expression in constant dialogue with predecessors such as Asger Jorn, who aside from beeing a founding member of the COBRA movement also was involved with the Situationists. A distinctly ferocious and intense style filled with claims and contradictions.
Bjarne Melgaard was born in1967 in Sydney, Australia. He studied at Academy of Fine Arts, Warzaw, Poland, 1990; The Oslo Academy of Fine Art, Oslo, Norway, 1991; Rijksacademie, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 1992 and at Jan van Eyck Academie, Maastricht, Netherlands, 1993.
Bjarne Melgaard has exhibited widely including major solo shows at Munchmuseet, Oslo, Norway, 2015; Sørlandets kunstmuseum, Kristiansand, Norway, 2014; Astrup Fearnley Museet for Moderne Kunst, Oslo, Norway, 2013; Gavin Brown’s Enterprise, New York, USA, 2013; Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), London, United Kingdom, 2012; Galerie Guido W. Baudach, Berlin, Germany, 2011; Greene Naftali, New York, USA, 2010; Astrup Fearnley Museet for Moderne Kunst, Oslo, Norway, 2010; Galerie Krinzinger, Vienna, Austria, 2008; Galeria Senda, Barcelona, Spain, 2007 and at Lars Bohman Gallery, Stockholm, Sweden, 2007.
Melgaard’s works are represented in many public collections, including Astrup Fearnley Museet for Moderne Kunst, Oslo, Norway; Kiasma – Finlands Nationalgalleri, Helsinki, Finland; Malmö konstmuseum, Malmö, Sweden; Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden; Musée de la Ville, Strasbourg, France; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands; The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Los Angeles, USA and at The Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA.
Bjarne Melgaard was born in1967 in Sydney, Australia. He studied at Academy of Fine Arts, Warzaw, Poland, 1990; The Oslo Academy of Fine Art, Oslo, Norway, 1991; Rijksacademie, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 1992 and at Jan van Eyck Academie, Maastricht, Netherlands, 1993.
Bjarne Melgaard has exhibited widely including major solo shows at Munchmuseet, Oslo, Norway, 2015; Sørlandets kunstmuseum, Kristiansand, Norway, 2014; Astrup Fearnley Museet for Moderne Kunst, Oslo, Norway, 2013; Gavin Brown’s Enterprise, New York, USA, 2013; Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), London, United Kingdom, 2012; Galerie Guido W. Baudach, Berlin, Germany, 2011; Greene Naftali, New York, USA, 2010; Astrup Fearnley Museet for Moderne Kunst, Oslo, Norway, 2010; Galerie Krinzinger, Vienna, Austria, 2008; Galeria Senda, Barcelona, Spain, 2007 and at Lars Bohman Gallery, Stockholm, Sweden, 2007.
Melgaard’s works are represented in many public collections, including Astrup Fearnley Museet for Moderne Kunst, Oslo, Norway; Kiasma – Finlands Nationalgalleri, Helsinki, Finland; Malmö konstmuseum, Malmö, Sweden; Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden; Musée de la Ville, Strasbourg, France; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands; The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Los Angeles, USA and at The Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA.