About - Toril Johannessen

Toril Johannessen (b.1978, living in Bergen, Norway). I work across various media, such as prints, textiles and installations. My artistic work range from research based and systematic collection of information to sensuous expressions in the use of form and materials. My visual language, especially in my printed works, often shows seemingly sober and documentary forms of representation, such as maps, graphs and diagrams. Alternating between methodological precision and personal approaches, I aim to shed light on the role of values and subjectivity in the presentation of facts and information. I’m interested in structures and frameworks for knowledge, from popular knowledge to scientific methods, and a recurring theme in my practice is the impact of historical, political and technological conditions on modes of perception. In recent years, I have been particularly interested in the cultural, political and military landscape of the so-called High North.

Contact

Toril Johannessen
toril.johannessen(at)protonmail.com

OSL Contemporary
www.oslcontemporary.com
info(at)oslcontemporary.com

Education

2011 Mountain School of Arts, artist run educational program, Los Angeles, California
2006-08 MA in Fine Art, Bergen National Academy of the Arts (now KMD), Norway
2002-05 BA in Fine Art, Bergen National Academy of the Arts (now KMD), Dept of Photography, Norway
2007 The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, KUNO guest, Copenhagen, Denmark
2005-06 University of Bergen, Dept of information and media science, Norway
2004 Kunsthochschule Weißensee, Berlin, ERASMUS guest, Germany

Solo exhibitions

2024 Deterrence and Reassurance, North Norwegian Art Centre, Svolvær, Norway
2024 Monument Algae, w/M. Dijkman, die raum, Berlin, Germany
2024 Deterrence and Reassurance, The Festival Exhibition 2024, Bergen Kunsthall, Bergen, Norway
2023 Tilstedeværelse / Presence, OSL Contemporary, Oslo, Norway
2019 Reclaiming Vision, w/M. Dijkman, HIAP & Helsinki Festival, Helsinki, Finland
2019 Liquid Properties, w/M. Dijkman, OSL Contemporary, Oslo, Norway
2019 Skogsaken, Entrée and Trykkeriet, Bergen, Norway
2018 Liquid Properties, w/M. Dijkman, for Munchmuseet on the Move, The Munch Museum, Oslo, Norway
2017 Imaginary Networks & The Invention and Conclusion of the Eye, Small Projects, Tromsø, Norway
2017 The Invention and Conclusion of the Eye, OSL Contemporary, Oslo, Norway
2017 Oppfinnelsen og avviklingen av øyet, Hordaland Art Centre, Bergen, Norway
2017 Unlearning Optical Illusions, ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum, Aarhus, Denmark
2016 Norsk natur, w/Tue Greenfort, National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, Oslo, Norway
2016 Unlearning Optical Illusions, KABUSO, Øystese, Norway
2016 Unlearning Optical Illusions, Trondheim Kunstmuseum, Trondheim, Norway
2015 AA-MHUMA-AITI-KITTEKITII, OSL Contemporary, Oslo, Norway
2014 Variable Stars, Preus Museum, Horten, Norway
2013 Teleportation Paradigm, UKS, Oslo, Norway
2011 Nonlocality, Volker Bradtke, Düsseldorf, Germany
2011 Nonlocality, Lautom Contemporary, Oslo, Norway
2010 Transcendental Physics, Bergen Kunsthall No.5, Bergen, Norway
2009 The Generic Stone, w/Sidsel Meineche, Hordaland Art Centre, Bergen, Norway
2009 Variable Stars & In Search of Iceland Spar, Oslo Kunstforening, Oslo, Norway

Group exhibitions

2024 Measures, Survival Kit 15, Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art (LCCA), Riga, Latvia
2024 Atlantic Ocean, Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Oslo, Norway
2024 The Limits to Growth/The Desire for a Donut (Economy), RADIUS CCA, Delft, The Netherlands
2024 Guarantee of freedom, security and intergenerational traumas, Barents Spektakel, Terminal B, Kirkenes, Norway
2023 Strange Paradise, ISELP, Brussels, Belgium
2023 Manifest/o, KiT Galleri, Trondheim, Norway
2022 The Machine is Us - Munch Triennale, MUNCH, Oslo, Norway
2022 Liquid Structures, Batumi Urban Agenda, Batumi, Georgia
2022 Emotions are Oceans, RADIUS CCA, Delft, The Netherlands
2022 Spor af Niels Bohr, Sophienholm Kunsthal, Lyngby, Denmark
2021 Sustainable Societies for the Future, film screening in public space, Floating Museum, Chicago, Illinois
2021 To Live as A Mayfly, interventions in public space by Failure, Understanding, Care & Kunst, Tromsø, Norway
2021 Langt Ude i Skoven (På opdagelse i naturen), Skovhuset, Værløse, Danmark
2021 Uncertain Horizon, WAM Turku City Art Museum, Turku, Finland
2021 The Sea, Kalmar Konstmusem, Kalmar, Sweden
2021 AQUARIA - Or the Illusion of a Boxed Sea, MAAT Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology, Lisbon, Portugal
2021 Sustainable Societies for the Future, Malmö Konstmuseum, Malmö, Sweden
2020 Spoiled Waters Spilled, Les Parallèles du Sud / Manifesta 13, Marseille, France
2020 Beyond Measure, Trondheim Art Museum, Trondheim, Norway
2020 Kas me sellist muuseumi tahtsimegi? Narva versioon, Narva Art Museum, Narva, Estonia
2019 Ecologies - Lost, Found and Continued, Screen City Biennial, Stavanger, Norway
2019 LIAF 2019 - Lofoten International Art Festival, Svolvær, Norway
2019 Under Water, Filatoio Rosso, Caraglio, Italy
2019 Group Show, Galerie (INT), Oslo International Theatre Festival, Oslo, Norway
2019 E.S.P.: Visual Fields, Filip and Cineworks, Vancouver, Canada
2019 Post Water, Museo Nazionale della Montagna, Torino, Italy
2019 Dataesthetics, Foreman Art Gallery, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada
2019 The Future Stands Still but We Move in Infinite Space, OSL Contemporary, Oslo, Norway
2018 Navigating Polarities/Marjolijn Dijkman, NOME Gallery, Berlin, Germany
2018 Why Listen to Plants?, Liquid Architecture, RMIT Design Hub, Melbourne, Australia
2018 Liquid Properties, Projects at Verbeke Foundation, Kemzeke, Belgium
2018 NATURvitenskap, Trondheim Art Museum, Trondheim, Norway
2018 Seeing Without a Seer, Radical Reversibility, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2018 The Blue Hour, Dak’art, Biennale de Dakar, Dakar, Senegal
2017 If Seeing is Believing, Fullersta Gård, Huddinge, Sweden
2017 All of the Above, None of the Above, Mela House, Oslo, Norway
2017 The Promise and Compromise of Translation, Four Boxes Gallery, Aarhus, Denmark
2017 Image Drain, Tallinn Art Hall, Tallinn, Estonia
2017 STAGES: Drawing the Curtain, Plug In ICA, Winnipeg, MA, Canada
2017 Anthropic Landscape, Parc Saint Léger, Pougues-les-Eaux, France
2017 What Remains – The Golden Records, Fotogalleriet, Oslo, Norway
2016 Foreign Places, WIELS, Brussels, Belgium
2016 The Economy is Spinning, Onomatopee, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
2016 Random Walks, Kunsthall 44 Møen, Askeby, Denmark
2016 Sakte bilder, Lillehammer Kunstmuseum, Lillehammer, Norway
2016 Form Matters, Matter Forms, Apalazzo Gallery, Brescia, Italy
2016 On Limits, ISP Whitney/The Kitchen, NYC, US
2015 Cultural Threads: Migrations, Australian Design Centre, Australia
2015 Facts, Stories and Anecdotes, Kunsthall Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway
2015 Norsk Skulpturbiennale, Vigeland Museum, Oslo, Norway
2015 Performing Objects, Enough Room for Space, Brussels, Belgium
2015 Tomorrow Today, curated_by_vienna, Galerie Hubert Winter, Vienna, Austria
2015 Balance Sheets, Edouard Malingue Gallery, Hong Kong
2015 Cultural Threads: Migrations, NCAD Gallery, Dublin, Ireland
2015 Systémique, CEAAC, Strasbourg, France
2015 Cultural Threads: Migrations, KANEKO Centre, Omaha, Nebraska, US
2014 On the moment of change (…), ARTSPACE, Auckland, New Zealand
2014 Present Future, solo presentation at Artissima, Turin, Italy
2014 Allegory of the Cave Painting, Extra City, Antwerp, Belgium
2014 Blue Times, Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna, Austria
2014 Unstuck in Time, Te Tuhi Centre for the Arts, Auckland, New Zealand
2014 Curiosity: Art & the Pleasures of Knowing, (Hayward Touring), de Appel, Netherlands
2014 Paradise Reclaimed, Festspillutstillingen, Festspillene i Nord-Norge, Harstad, Norway
2014 Markeringsdistrikt, Harstad Kunstforening, Harstad, Norway
2014 The Act of Seeing with One’s Own Eyes, Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada
2014 Definite Motion, Generator Projects, Dundee, Scotland
2014 Literacy/Illiteracy,16th Tallinn Print Triennial, Estonia
2014 Crònica. Narració, historia i subjectivitat, Fabra I Coats, Barcelona, Spania
2014 Kas me sellist muuseumi tahtsimegi?, Tartu Art Museum, Tartu, Estland
2013 Curiosity: Art & the Pleasures of Knowing, Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery, UK
2013 Past performance is the best indicator of future results, Tenderpixel, London, UK
2013 A nonspatial continuum (…), Schleicher/Lange, Berlin, Germany
2013 l’anniversaire#6, FRAC Champagne-Ardenne, Reims Scènes d’Europe, Reims, France
2013 Flag NYC, Performa 13, New York, US
2013 Shadows of a Doubt, Tallinn Art Hall, Tallinn, Estonia
2013 Requiem for a Bank, HMKV Dortmund, Dortmund, Germany
2013 Momentous Times, CCA - Centre for Contemporary Art, Derry, Northern Ireland
2013 RE-Culture II, Patras, Greece
2013 Room 0, Henningsen Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark
2013 Curiosity: Art & the Pleasures of Knowing, Turner Contemporary, Margate, UK
2013 Mom, am I barbarian?, 13th Istanbul Biennial, Istanbul, Turkey
2013 Nouvelle Vague, A History of Inspiration, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France
2013 Economics in Art, Museum of Contemporary Art Krakow, Krakow, Poland
2013 Motlys, OSL Contemporary, Oslo, Norway
2012 Biennale Bénin, Cotonou, Bénin
2012 Cartographies of hope: Change Narratives, DOX Centre for Contemporary Art, Prague
2012 Neufertvariasjonene, Projekt 0047, Oslo, Norway
2012 This is (R) evolution, Stavanger Kunsthall, Stavanger, Norway
2012 Machine worries, Machine Hearts, Blank Project Space, Cape Town, South Africa
2012 In Fifteen Minutes Everyone will be in the Future, Plovdiv Contemporary Art Week, Bulgaria
2012 Game of Life, Kristiansand Kunsthall, Kristiansand, Norway
2012 Conditions of a Moment, Hordaland kunstsenter, Bergen, Norway
2012 Här har man alltid med sig, Stockholm Music & Arts/Tensta Konsthall, Stockholm, Sweden
2012 dOCUMENTA (13), Kassel, Germany
2012 The Remainder, Hilary Crisp, London, UK
2012 Juscu’ici tout va bien, OSLO10, Basel, Switzerland
2012 Plus de Croissance: Un Capitalisme ideal…., La Ferme du Buisson, Noisiel, France
2012 Let us keep our own noon, Galerie West, Den Haag, The Netherlands
2012 An Exhibition of a Study on Knowledge, Forum Stadtpark, Graz, Austria
2012 Letter, INCA, Detroit, Michigan
2011 Run, Comrade, The Old World is Behind You, Kunsthall Oslo, Oslo, Norway
2011 Handlingsregler, Maihaugen, Lillehammer, Norway
2011 The End of Money, Witte de With, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
2011 Space. About a dream, KUNSTHALLE Wien, Vienna, Austria
2011 Toril Johannessen, Kjetil Kausland, Sveinung Rudjord Unneland, Lautom, Oslo
2011 The Museum of Longing and Failure (MOLAF), Bergen, Norway
2010 Smooth Structures, SMART Project Space, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2010 BGO1, Bergen Kunstmuseum, Bergen, Norway
2010 I was Uranium, Sils Project Space, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
2010 Chris Cornish, Kristin Nordhøy and Toril Johannessen, Lautom, Oslo, Norway
2010 The Line, CSA Space, Vancouver, Canada
2010 PolArt2010, Tromsø Kunstforening, Tromsø, Norway
2009 World Wide Wonders, Galerie Kunst-Zicht, Ghent, Belgia
2009 Susan Collis, Ane Mette Hol og Toril Johannessen, Lautom Contemporary, Oslo
2009 Session 6 - Lecture, AmNudenDa, London, England
2009 Langt inni skauen erre bare mer skau, Viul, Hønefoss, Norge
2009 From Now On – New Nordic Photography, Hasselblad Center, Gothenburg, Sweden
2008 Magiske Systemer, Tromsø Kunstforening, Tromsø, Norway
2008 Sparebankstiftelsen DnB Nor Stipendieutstilling. Oslo Art Society, Oslo, Norway
2008 Tomorrow’s Parties, MA degree show, Bergen Kunsthall, Bergen, Norway
2008 Nordnorsken, Bodø Kunstforening m.fl. tourin Northern Norway
2007 It’s like opening a door, Visningsrommet USF Verftet, Bergen, Norway
2007 Basic Speculations, Galleri By The Way, Bergen, Norway
2006 Høstutstillingen, Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo, Norway

Public commissions

2023 Presence, Evenes Air Base, commissioned by KORO, Evenes, Norway
2020-22 Representation (for people and those who represent them), Bergen City Hall, commissioned by City of Bergen, Norway
2014 Inscription, Amalie Skrams videregående skole, library, Bergen, Norway
2011 Historical Time, Faculty of humanities, University of Bergen, commissioned by KORO/Public Art Norway

Publications and catalogues

2018 The Invention and Conclusion of the Eye, Filip Supplements, Filip and Plug In Editions, Vancouver, Canada
2018 Liquid Properties, The Munch Museum, editor N. H. O'Donnell, Oslo
2017 Unlearning Optical Illusions, AROS Aarhus Art Museum, editor J. Vengberg Sevel, Denmark
2016 NORSK NATUR, exhibition catalogue, editor H. Ravn, National Museum, Norway
2013 Unseeing / Dublett - Toril Johannessen, artist book and anthology, Hordaland Art Centre, Bergen, Norway

Public collections

2011, 2020 KODE Bergen Art Museum, Bergen, Norway
2013, 2017 The National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, Norway
2016 Oslo kommunes kunstsamling, Oslo, Norway
2015 Troms Fylkeskommune, Norway
2014 Nord-Norsk Kunstmuseum, Tromsø, Norway
2014 Preus Museum, Horten, Norway

Miscellaneous

2024 Member of Arts Council Norway
2022 Contributer to The Only Lasting Truth is Change, BEK Symposium 2022, Bergen, Norway
2020 Teaching the workshop RRRESEARCH for BA/MA students, Tromsø Academy of Fine Arts, UiT, Tromsø
2020 Presentation, w/M. Dijkman at Sonic Acts Academy, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2019-2020 Member of Nominasjonsutvalget, NBK
2016-2017 Mentor for Ayatgali Tuleubek, NNKS mentor programme, Norway
2015-2017 Jury member, KOM projects, KORO/Public Art Norway
2015 Presentation, Art Talk, Dept. of Painting and Sculpture, KNUST, Kumasi, Ghana
2015 Presentation, Cultural Threads symposium, Central Saint Martins, London, UK
2014 Presentation, Easy Listening series, Auckland Art Gallery, New Zealand
2014 Artist in residence, WIELS, Brussels, Belgium
2013 Organising the seminar A Matter of Life and Conduct: w/Anne Szefer Karlsen, for B-open, Bergen
2013 Artist award 2013, City of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
2012 Organising Flaggfabrikken’s international residency program
2011 Organising the workshop The Invisible Hand, w/Marjolijn Dijkman, for B-open
2011 Organising the seminar Visions: Upheavals and unpractical ideas, for B-open
2010 Organising the seminar To produce an art scene, for B-open, Bergen
2010 Artist in residence, Western Front, Vancouver, Canada
2010 AIR Bergen-Berlin, artist residency in Berlin, support by the City of Bergen
2009 PolArt residency in the Arctic/Barents Sea, Tromsø Kunstforening and ARCTOS
2009 Organising the seminar “Objekt + Verbal”, Permanten, Bergen
2009-2011 Organising B-open’s monthly study circles, w/Vilde Salhus Røed, Bergen
2009-2011 Chairwoman, B-open, artist festival and open studios in Bergen/Hordaland
2008 Organising the seminar “The artist as Producer” w/Åse Løvgren, HKS, Bergen, Norway
2008 Presentation at XXVII Symposium of the Scientific Instrument Commision, Lisbon, Portugal
2006-2008 Art editor for Replikk, academic magazine, Bergen, Norway