Exhibition : “ Flaum” Oseana Art Center
Flaum ( Flod) April 7 - May 6 20’8 , One person Exhibition by Torild Stray Co curated by Evelyn Holm
PRESSS RELEASE
On March 5th, Torild Stray’s nearly five-meter-long charcoal drawing, N.Y. Metamorphosis (1998), was acquired into the permanent collection of the National 9/11 Memorial & Museum at Ground Zero in New York. The event—and the work itself, which depicts the view from the 85th floor of the World Trade Center—has received significant attention in both Norwegian and international media. On Saturday, April 7th, she opens an exhibition at Galleri Hvelvet at Oseana Art & Cultural Centre..
The exhibition FLAUM consists of oil paintings, charcoal drawings, and prints, all created in recent years in New York or Norway, with a focus on urban landscapes, the human figure, and nature. The exhibition title is not coincidental; floods, tsunamis, and disasters are themes that are visibly present in many of the works. At times they appear as clear references to current events, while at other times they emerge more subtly through the many layers of painterly expression. In some cases, the motif may at first glance seem peaceful, almost idyllic, yet carries an underlying poetic force.
Nevertheless, a metaphorical reading of the exhibition title is equally relevant in relation to this exhibition—and not least to the artist herself. Here there is an overflow of ideas and motifs, of impressions and expressions, within a richly associative visual language characterized by flow, escape, and momentum.
On the opening day, the audience will have the opportunity to meet the artist in conversation with filmmaker Ellen Lande. Lande will present a raw behind-the-scenes film showing Torild Stray at work the day before the exhibition opening. Both this short film and an excerpt from Flimmerfilm’s still-unfinished documentary, Return of a View, will be shown at Oseana during the exhibition.
Torild Stray has exhibited in New York and Norway since the early 1990s. Her artistic vision and dedication as a painter have been praised by critics and well received by international art collectors, and she has received numerous awards and grants. Her most recent exhibition prior to FLAUM at Oseana was at the international art fair The Armory Show in New York, where she was represented by De Sarthe Gallery. Stray studied at, among other institutions, the Nordic Art School in Kokkola, Finland, and the New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture. She has also studied art history at the University of Bergen.
Oseana Kunst & Kultursenter
Mobergsbakken 12, 5200 Os
Head Curator Evelyn Holm +47 901 07 014 / evelyn@oseana.no
