EXHIBITON: VANISHING!
Exhibition period: 05/09/2020 – 08/11/2020
Graphics – etchings and woodcuts. In the exhibition “Vanishing”, Johansen focuses on our recent history and is based on his own upbringing in Havøysund in the post-war period, which was characterized by reconstruction, strong local communities along the coast with vibrant fishing villages and a future optimism for the coastal people. The sea has always been full of fish – here there must be work and opportunities for most people? But changes came and today many of the fishing villages are just history.
THE ARTWORK
Through the history of the Havøysund fishing cooperative, Johansen will through a new series of graphic works show us a time that was characterized by local ownership and that larger parts of the profits that came from the fisheries should belong to the place. Through art, we can reflect on the changes that have taken place in the last 30 years and we can ask questions about the current management of fishery resources and district policy.
For the exhibition, a catalog has been published with an introduction to the exhibition by the artist himself and also a text by Gunnar Grytås (journalist and author), who addresses some of the historical background to the theme of the exhibition with a focus on fisheries, war, reconstruction, politics and fisheries cooperatives.
THE ARTIST
Arnold Johansen was born in 1953 in Nordreisa and grew up in Havøysund. As an adult, he has lived in Oslo, Hammerfest and today in Tromsø, where he has a studio at Kysten atelierfelleskap which is run by Troms-Finnmark county council.
Arnold Johansen has his education from the State Academy of Fine Arts (1974 – 1980) and has been active for over 40 years. He has received a number of scholarships and was awarded the state’s guaranteed income for artists from 1999. In 2019 he had a separate exhibition in Alta Art Association, and participated in the group exhibitions “Imprints – Norwegian Graphic Artists 100 years” at Nordnorsk kunstmuseum and “Conventus» at the Sami Center for Contemporary Art, both exhibitions marked the organization Norwegian Graphic Artists’ 100th anniversary.
Photo: Arnold Johansen / Gierdu.no.
Photos from the Exhibition by Tor Egil Rasmussen.
