In the exhibition Play, Tiril Hasselknippe questions our sense of reality, both as individuals and as a society. Kunsthall Stavanger’s main gallery is dedicated to the Stavanger-based artist’s first solo show in the city. Hasselknippe, who has won critical acclaim both nationally and internationally, is specifically known for her sophisticated and intricate treatment of sculpture as material.

Play is a continuation of Hasselknippe’s exploration of cosmic questions, alternative and parallel realities - inspired in part by science fiction. The exhibition consists of an enveloping installation in a dark room, with luminescent, variously sized arches – or portals - installed at different heights. The work is accompanied by a soundtrack made by the artist on a waterphone, an instrument that is frequently used in science fiction and horror movies. The size and materiality of the arches refer to something bodily, such as muscle fibres and nerves.

Barbara Ess is included in Who You Staring At? Visual Culture of the No Wave Scene in the 1970s and 1980s, an exhibition exploring the visual and sound contributions of an alternative art scene that appeared in the low-rent areas of Lower Manhattan, in New York in 1978.

This presentation borrows its title from Who You Staring At?, an album by John Giorno and Glenn Branca. A question that transcribes no wave artists’ confrontational attitude and determination to deconstruct the conventional gaze, presented here in an ensemble of multidisciplinary practices where dance, opera, music and the visual arts intersect.

Two works from Ken Lum’s Portrait-Logo Series pairing image and text are installed along the main gallery wall and visible from the street in the exhibition, with Wardrobe. Resembling advertisements in scale and style the works speak to the idea of marketing as a medium of its own making, with each work presenting characters flattened and packaged for public consumption.

Lum uses the inherent ambiguity of images against the assumed exactitude of language, placing the messages produced from either medium (visual and written) into question. Although the artist expertly mimics the flatness and “frankness” of advertising, the true nature of the characters he portrays remains veiled in mystery, making the distinction between visibility and legibility all the more significant.

Image captions:
Installation views, Tiril Hasselknippe: Play, NITJA, Lillestrøm, NO 2022. Images courtesy the artist and Kunsthall Stavanger.
Barbara Ess, Untited, 1989, C-print, 75 2/3 x 52 2/5 in. Image courtesy of the Centre Pompidou, Paris.
Ken Lum, Bindy Sangeet: Employee of the Month, 1990/2020, Plexiglass, chromogenic print, Sintra, and vinyl, 59 7/8 x 96 1/8 in.