Artists
Bio
Toril Johannessen (b.1978, Norway), lives in Bergen, Norway. She works across various media, such as prints, information graphics, textiles, text, and installations. Information as material is central in many of Johannessen’s projects, for example, by creating her own datasets consisting of images or words that form the basis of the works. Johannessen is interested in structures and frameworks for knowledge, from folk knowledge to scientific methodologies. The impact of historical conditions and technological developments on modes of perception is a recurring theme in her practice.
Toril Johannessen
Selected Works
By Marjolijn Dijkman & Toril Johannessen
OSL contemporary, 2019
By Marjolijn Dijkman & Toril Johannessen
OSL contemporary, 2019
By Marjolijn Dijkman & Toril Johannessen
OSL contemporary, 2019
170 x 120 cm unframed
Edition of 3 + 2 AP
Installation view 'Liquid Properties'
By Marjolijn Dijkman & Toril Johannessen
OSL contemporary, 2019
By Marjolijn Dijkman & Toril Johannessen
OSL contemporary, 2019
150 x 120 cm unframed
Edition of 3 + 2 AP
Installation view 'Liquid Properties'
By Marjolijn Dijkman & Toril Johannessen
OSL contemporary, 2019
Screenprints, 76 x 104 cm, CMYK
Screenprints, 76 x 104 cm, CMYK
Screenprints, 76 x 104 cm, CMYK
Photo: Thor Brødreskift
Exhibition view SKOGSAKEN (The Forest Case) Trykkeriet, Bergen, 2019
Photo: Thor Brødreskift.
Photo: Thor Brødreskift
38:40 min, multi-channel playback
Stage light, diagrams, paper sculptures
Exhibition view 'The Invention and Conclusion of the Eye', OSL contemporary, 2017
Exhibition view 'The Invention and Conclusion of the Eye', OSL contemporary, 2017
38:40 min, multi-channel playback
Stage light, diagrams, paper sculptures
Exhibition view 'The Invention and Conclusion of the Eye', OSL contemporary, 2017
Size 76 x 56 cm (unframed)
Size 76 x 56 cm (unframed)
Size 76 x 56 cm (unframed)
Size 170 x 120 cm (unframed), 173 x 123 (framed), Text and glass plate: 20 x 28 cm
Edition of 3+1AP
Size 170 x 120 cm (unframed), 173 x 123 (framed), Text and glass plate: 20 x 28 cm
Edition of 3+1AP
Size 170 x 120 cm (unframed), 173 x 123 (framed), Text and glass plate: 20 x 28 cm
Edition of 3+1AP
Photo: Christina Leithe Hansen
AROS Art Museum, Aarhus, 2017
Photo: Maja Theodoraki
Trondheim Art Museum, 2016
Photo: A. Solberg
The shapes of the three rope figures YES, OR and NO are based on a survey registering the visual associations of students in relation to the three terms “yes”, “or” and “no”, as pronounced in various languages. The rope figures are assigned the distinct meanings of these three words based on formal resemblance with the results of the study. As such, the abstract shapes represent verbal expressions bearing distinct semantic content
The shapes of the three rope figures YES, OR and NO are based on a survey registering the visual associations of students in relation to the three terms “yes”, “or” and “no”, as pronounced in various languages. The rope figures are assigned the distinct meanings of these three words based on formal resemblance with the results of the study. As such, the abstract shapes represent verbal expressions bearing distinct semantic content
The shapes of the three rope figures YES, OR and NO are based on a survey registering the visual associations of students in relation to the three terms “yes”, “or” and “no”, as pronounced in various languages. The rope figures are assigned the distinct meanings of these three words based on formal resemblance with the results of the study. As such, the abstract shapes represent verbal expressions bearing distinct semantic content
21x29,7 cm each
Size 76 x 56 cm (unframed)
Edition of 25+2AP
Size 76 x 56 cm (unframed)
Edition of 25
Size 76 x 56 cm
Edition of 25+2AP
Size 76 x 56 cm (unframed)
Edition of 25
Size 76 x 56 cm
Edition of 25
Size 76 x 56 cm (unframed)
Edition of 5+1AP
The clock case is a railway station clocks with two clock faces. Efforts to synchronize, standardise, and establish a global time is historically linked to the development of the railway network by the end of the 1800s, a process that is also related to the unfolding of capitalism and ideas of progress. As the railroad was responsible for an altered temporality for over a hundred years ago, from several local to one global time divided into time zones, the Internet is about to change our perception of time – both the time we use working in front of our computers and how humans in different places are connected day and night in a new time zone.
Programming: Sindre Sørensen
Clockwork: Johannes Lavoll
Thanks to Espen Sommer Eide, Roar Sletteland and BEK – Bergen center for electronic arts.
Produced with support from the City of Bergen and NBK/Vederlagsfondet
Various decimal time systems have been in use through history, the most well known being French Revolutionary Time which was in use for a short period during the French Revolution. Historical Time follows this timekeeping convention.
The clock, designed for the site, is permanently installed at the University of Bergen, Faculty of Humanities, Bergen. Inside the building, a series of prints relating to the topics of time and measurement are installed.
Commissioned by KORO/Public Art Norway.
Clockwork: Smith of Derby and Johannes Lavoll
Foto: Vegard Kleven
Foto: Vegard Kleven
Foto: Vegard Kleven
Gallery Exhibitions
CV
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 (Selection)
2024
Festival Exhibition at Bergen Kunsthall during Bergen International Festival (Festspillene i Bergen), Norway (Upcoming)
2019
Reclaiming Vision, w/M. Dijkman, HIAP & Helsinki Festival, Helsinki, Finland
Liquid Properties, w/M. Dijkman, OSL Contemporary, Oslo, Norway
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
Toril Johannessen, OSL contemporary, Oslo, Norway
Toril Johannessen, ARoS, Aarhus, Denmark
Oppfinnelsen og Avviklingen av Øyet, Hordaland Kunstsenter, Bergen
2016
NORSK NATUR, with Tue Greenfort, Museum of Contemporary Art, National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, Oslo, Norway
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
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
Variable Stars & In Search of Iceland Spar, Oslo Fine Art Society, Oslo, Norway
Group Exhibitions (Selection)
2023
Strange Paradise, ISELP, Brussel, Belgia
Manifest/o, KiT Galleri, Trondheim, Norge
2022
The Machine is Us - Munch Triennale, MUNCH, Oslo, Norge
Liquid Structures, Batumi Urban Agenda, Batumi, Georgia
Emotions are Oceans, RADIUS CCA, Delft, Nederland
Spor af Niels Bohr, Sophienholm Kunsthal, Lyngby, Danmark
2021
Sustainable Societies for the Future, film screening in public space, Floating Museum, Chicago, Illinois
To Live as A Mayfly, interventions in public space by Failure, Understanding, Care & Kunst, Tromsø, Norge
Langt Ude i Skoven (På opdagelse i naturen), Skovhuset, Værløse, Danmark
Uncertain Horizon, WAM Turku City Art Museum, Turku, Finland
The Sea, Kalmar Konstmusem, Kalmar, Sverige
AQUARIA - Or the Illusion of a Boxed Sea, MAAT Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology, Lisbon, Portugal
Sustainable Societies for the Future, Malmö Konstmuseum, Malmö, Sverige
2020
Spoiled Waters Spilled, Les Parallèles du Sud / Manifesta 13, Marseille, Frankrike
Beyond Measure, Trondheim kunstmuseum, Trondheim, Norge
Kas me sellist muuseumi tahtsimegi? Narva versioon, Narva Art Museum, Narva, Estland
2019
Ecologies - Lost, Found and Continued, Screen City Biennial, Stavanger, Norge
LIAF 2019 - Lofoten International Art Festival, Svolvær, Norge
Under Water, Filatoio Rosso, Caraglio, Italia
Group Show, Galerie (INT), Oslo International Theatre Festival, Oslo, Norge
E.S.P.: Visual Fields, Filip and Cineworks, Vancouver, Canada
Post Water, Museo Nazionale della Montagna, Torino, Italia
Dataesthetics, Foreman Art Gallery, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada
The Future Stands Still but We Move in Infinite Space, OSL Contemporary, Oslo, Norge
2018
Navigating Polarities, w/Marjolijn Dijkman, NOME Gallery, Berlin, Tyskland
Why Listen to Plants?, Liquid Architecture, RMIT Design Hub, Melbourne, Australia
Liquid Properties, Projects at Verbeke Foundation, Kemzeke, Belgia
NATURvitenskap, Trondheim kunstmuseum, Trondheim, Norge
Seeing Without a Seer, Radical Reversibility, Amsterdam, Nederland
The Blue Hour, Dak’art, Biennale de Dakar, Dakar, Senegal
2017
If Seeing is Believing, Fullersta Gård, Huddinge, Sverige
All of the Above, None of the Above, Mela House, Oslo, Norge
The Promise and Compromise of Translation, Four Boxes Gallery, Aarhus, Danmark
Image Drain, Tallinn Art Hall, Tallinn, Estland
STAGES: Drawing the Curtain, Plug In ICA, Winnipeg, MA, Canada
Anthropic Landscape, Parc Saint Léger, Pougues-les-Eaux, Frankrike
What Remains – The Golden Records, Fotogalleriet, Oslo, Norge
2016
Foreign Places, WIELS, Brussels, Belgia
The Economy is Spinning, Onomatopee, Eindhoven, Nederland
Random Walks, Kunsthall 44 Møen, Askeby, Danmark
Sakte bilder, Lillehammer Kunstmuseum, Lillehammer, Norge
Form Matters, Matter Forms, Apalazzo Gallery, Brescia, Itaia
On Limits, ISP Whitney/The Kitchen, NYC, US
2015
Cultural Threads: Migrations, Australian Design Centre, Australia
Facts, Stories and Anecdotes, Kunsthall Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway
Norsk Skulpturbiennale, Vigeland Museum, Oslo, Norway
Performing Objects, Enough Room for Space, Brussels, Belgium
Tomorrow Today, curated_by_vienna, Galerie Hubert Winter, Vienna, Austria
Balance Sheets, Edouard Malingue Gallery, Hong Kong
Cultural Threads: Migrations, NCAD Gallery, Dublin, Ireland
Systémique, CEAAC, Strasbourg, France
Cultural Threads: Migrations, KANEKO Centre, Omaha, Nebraska, US
2014
On the moment of change (…), ARTSPACE, Auckland, New Zealand
Present Future, solo presentation at Artissima, Turin, Italy
Allegory of the Cave Painting, Extra City, Antwerp, Belgium
Blue Times, Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna, Austria
Unstuck in Time, Te Tuhi Centre for the Arts, Auckland, New Zealand
Curiosity: Art & the Pleasures of Knowing, (Hayward Touring), de Appel, Netherlands
Paradise Reclaimed, Festspillutstillingen, Festspillene i Nord-Norge, Harstad, Norway
Markeringsdistrikt, Harstad Kunstforening, Harstad, Norway
The Act of Seeing with One’s Own Eyes, Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada
Definite Motion, Generator Projects, Dundee, Scotland
Literacy/Illiteracy,16th Tallinn Print Triennial, Estonia
Crònica. Narració, historia i subjectivitat, Fabra I Coats, Barcelona, Spania
Kas me sellist muuseumi tahtsimegi?, Tartu Art Museum, Tartu, Estland
2013
Curiosity: Art & the Pleasures of Knowing, Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery, UK
Past performance is the best indicator of future results, Tenderpixel, London, UK
A nonspatial continuum (…), Schleicher/Lange, Berlin, Germany
l’anniversaire#6, FRAC Champagne-Ardenne, Reims Scènes d’Europe, Reims, France
Flag NYC, Performa 13, New York, US
Shadows of a Doubt, Tallinn Art Hall, Tallinn, Estonia
Requiem for a Bank, HMKV Dortmund, Dortmund, Germany
Momentous Times, CCA - Centre for Contemporary Art, Derry, Northern Ireland
RE-Culture II, Patras, Greece
Room 0, Henningsen Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark
Curiosity: Art & the Pleasures of Knowing, Turner Contemporary, Margate, UK
Mom, am I barbarian?, 13th Istanbul Biennial, Istanbul, Turkey
A History of Inspiration, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France
Economics in Art, Museum of Contemporary Art Krakow, Krakow, Poland
Motlys, OSL Contemporary, Oslo, Norway
2012
Biennale Bénin, Cotonou, Bénin
Cartographies of hope: Change Narratives, DOX Centre for Contemporary Art, Prague
Neufertvariasjonene, Projekt 0047, Oslo, Norway
This is (R) evolution, Stavanger Kunsthall, Stavanger, Norway
Machine worries, Machine Hearts, Blank Project Space, Cape Town, South Africa
In Fifteen Minutes Everyone will be in the Future, Plovdiv Contemporary Art Week, Bulgaria
Game of Life, Kristiansand Kunsthall, Kristiansand, Norway
Conditions of a Moment, Hordaland kunstsenter, Bergen, Norway
Här har man alltid med sig, Stockholm Music & Arts/Tensta Konsthall, Stockholm, Sweden
dOCUMENTA (13), Kassel, Germany
The Remainder, Hilary Crisp, London, UK
Juscu’ici tout va bien, OSLO10, Basel, Switzerland
Plus de Croissance: Un Capitalisme ideal…., La Ferme du Buisson, Noisiel, France
Let us keep our own noon, Galerie West, Den Haag, The Netherlands
An Exhibition of a Study on Knowledge, Forum Stadtpark, Graz, Austria
Letter, INCA, Detroit, Michigan, US
On Knowledge, Forum Stadtpark, Graz, Austria
Letter, INCA, Detroit, Michigan
2011
Run, Comrade, The Old World is Behind You, Kunsthall Oslo, Oslo, Norway
Handlingsregler, Maihaugen, Lillehammer, Norway
The End of Money, Witte de With, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Space. About a dream, KUNSTHALLE Wien, Vienna, Austria
Toril Johannessen, Kjetil Kausland, Sveinung Rudjord Unneland, Lautom, Oslo
The Museum of Longing and Failure (MOLAF), Bergen, Norway
2010
Smooth Structures, SMART Project Space, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
BGO1, Bergen Kunstmuseum, Bergen, Norway
I was Uranium, Sils Project Space, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Chris Cornish, Kristin Nordhøy and Toril Johannessen, Lautom, Oslo, Norway
The Line, CSA Space, Vancouver, Canada
PolArt2010, Tromsø Fine Art Society, Tromsø, Norway
2009
World Wide Wonders, Galerie Kunst-Zicht, Ghent, Belgia
Susan Collis, Ane Mette Hol og Toril Johannessen, Lautom Contemporary, Oslo
Session 6 - Lecture, AmNudenDa, London, England
Langt inni skauen erre bare mer skau, Viul, Hønefoss, Norge
From Now On – New Nordic Photography, Hasselblad Center, Gothenburg, Sweden
2008
Magiske Systemer, Tromsø Fine Art Society, Tromsø, Norway
Sparebankstiftelsen DnB Nor Stipendieutstilling. Oslo Art Society, Oslo, Norway
Tomorrow’s Parties, MA degree show, Bergen Kunsthall, Bergen, Norway
Nordnorsken, Bodø Kunstforening m.fl. tourin Northern Norway
2007
It’s like opening a door, Visningsrommet USF Verftet, Bergen, Norway
Basic Speculations, Galleri By The Way, Bergen, Norway
2006
Høstutstillingen, Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo, Norway
Collections
Preus Museum, Horten, Norway
Sparebank 1 Nord-Norge’s Art Foundation, Tromsø, Norway
The National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, Norway
Isabel and Agustín Coppel collection, Mexico
KODE Bergen Art Museum, Bergen, Norway
Sparebank 1 Nord-Norge’s Art Foundation, Tromsø, Norway
Various private collections
Commissions
2014
Inscription, Amalie Skrams videregående skole, library, Bergen, Norge
2011
Historical Time, Faculty of humanities, University of Bergen, UiB/KORO
Awards
2013
Artist award 2013, City of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
Publiations
2013
Unseeing / Dublett - Toril Johannessen, artist book and anthology, Hordaland Art Centre, Bergen, Norway
Anthologies, Catalogues, Reviews (Selection)
2015
Unstuck/In/Time, Rebecca Wide (ed.), Te Tuhi, Auckland, New Zealand
2014
Kunst og kunnskap, interview by Bår Stenvik, Forskeforum, #7/2104
Tid og rom i fritt fall, review, Øyvind Storm Bjerke, Klassekampen, 08.01.2014
2013
Vad vill hjärnan oss?, review, Fredrik Svensk, kunstkritikk.no
TIME, Whitechapel Documents of Contemporary art, Whitechapel gallery, London, UK
2012
Berøringspunktene, interview, Kunst Pluss, Norway
Vitenskapelig Wanderlust, interview, Billedkunst, Norway
Tidløs, interview, D2/Dagens Næringsliv, Norway
A personal history with science, interview w/Adnan Yildiz, MOUSSE #33, Italy
2011
Dobbeltgjengere i tid og rom (review), Line Ulekleiv, Billedkunst 7-2011, Norge
Tvillingskjebner (review), Kjetil Røed, kunstkritikk.no
Klokkerent (review), Erlend Hammer, Daglabdet. Norway
New Norwegian Art since 1990, by Øystein Ustvedt, Fagbokforlaget, Oslo, Norway
Logics of Scientific Discovery (interview), C Magazine, Toronto, Canada
Fotografi og stjernestøv (interview), Kunstforum #5, Oslo, Norway
2010
Norwegian Art Yearbook 2010, Pax Forlag, Oslo
Elegant om vitenskap og kunst (review), Billedkunst 2-2101
Variable Stars (artist presentation) in Kunstforum #2, Norwegian art magazine
Kunst for de små grå (review), Bergens Tidende, 21.01.2010
The Generic Stone (lecture and review), Retrospective Catalogue2009, HKS, Bergen
2009
Verden er magisk, (article, artistic contribution), Kunstjournalen B-post 04/09, art mag.
Misc
2014
Lecture, Easy Listening series, Auckland Art Gallery, New Zealand
Artist in residence, WIELS, Brussels, Belgium
Organising the seminar A Matter of Life and Conduct: Humanism, Universalism and Observation, w/Anne Szefer Karlsen, for B-open, Bergen
2012
Organising Flaggfabrikken’s international residency program
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
Artist in residence, Western Front, Vancouver, Canada
AIR Bergen-Berlin, artist residency in Berlin, support by the City of Bergen
Transcendental Physics (forelesning),University of Bergen, Dept. of Art History
2009
Participating at Arctic Tipping Points, scientific cruise in the Arctic/Barents Sea, organized by PolArt: Troms County, Tromsø Art Society and ARCTOS/Young Scientist Forum
Organising the seminar “Objekt + Verbal”, Permanten, Bergen
Organising B-open’s monthly study circles, Bergen (2009-2011)
Chairwoman, B-open, artist festival and open studios in Bergen/Hordaland (2009-2011)
2008
Organising the seminar “The artist as Producer” w/Åse Løvgren, HKS, Bergen, Norway
Presentation at XXVII Symposium of the Scientific Instrument Commision, Lisbon, Portugal
Co-organising the seminar “Looking for Observation”, Bergen National Academy of the Arts
Art editor for Replikk, academic magazine, Bergen, Norway (2006-2008)
1998
Fagbrev (professional certificate) in Photography, Trondheim, Norway