This year marks 50 years since Elisabeth Haarr (b.1945) had her first solo exhibition in Oslo – and it took place in the Oslo Art Association. As part of the programming where we look at our own exhibition history, Elisabeth Haarr is again invited to exhibit, this time together with visual artist Marianne Hurum (b.1978).
Elisabeth Haarr’s handwriting has been in continuous development for over five decades. In her works, which are mostly textiles, she has explored new materials, themes and formats. In addition, a strong art political, feminist and social commitment runs like a common thread throughout his career. Therefore, Haarr has managed to maintain his position as one of the central contemporary artists in Norway, most recently manifested in the festival exhibition in Bergen Kunsthall (2021).
During the last few years, Elisabeth Haarr has worked together with the artist Marianne Hurum, who is more than thirty years her junior. Hurum is particularly recognized as a painter, and, like Haarr, has also been involved in art political issues and work, including as former chairman of UKS. The meetings between them take shape in a playful exploration of the watercolor as a kind of artistic community. On several occasions they have painted together in Haarr’s garden in Kristiansand. These works probably bear as much the mark of initiated processes and dialogues as of completed, finished results. The expression on the large, colorful surfaces clearly differs from what they create individually.
Oslo Art Association wants to show how these two artists enrich and influence each other’s artistry. In addition to the collaborative works, they will also show their own exhibition in separate rooms, this too is watercolor work.
