The fourth edition in the series features an early work by BRIT FUGLEVAAG (b. 1939, NO). Fuglevaag was educated at the Norwegian National Academy of Craft and Art Industry in Oslo and the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw and has since her youth worked with weaving and textiles. As well as traveling, teaching, and exhibiting around the world, she has been politically active throughout her career and has held several positions in the Norwegian cultural scene, including in UKS and The Association of Norwegian Visual Artists (NBK).
The work presented at UKS is a sketch that was a study for a weaving shown in the same year as Fuglevaag’s debut at Høstutstillingen (The Autumn Exhibition) in 1965. The work was shown in a display case managed by UKS outside the Norwegian Parliament and became Fuglevaag’s very first sale. The watercolor sketch shows an abstract landscape in dark colors, inspired partly by Hannah Ryggen, with mountains, sea, sky, and openings that offer a peek into different realities. The weaving was made shortly after Fuglevaag’s one-year stay at the Academy of Fine Art in Warsaw. There Fuglevaag encountered a free and experimental textile art scene which had a huge impact on her. In Poland, textile was considered an artistic medium in its own right, in contrast to the Norwegian focus on utility weaving. Inspired by painting and sculptural composition, Fuglevaag’s works contain little ornamentation or motifs; rather they maintain a clear focus on material experimentation, technique, and color.
*In 2021–22 works by Brit Fuglevaag will be on view at several places in Oslo. From 12 August to 12 September 2021, she will have solo exhibitions at both SOFT Gallery and Kunstnerforbudet. From 12 November 2021 to 2 January 2022, a new commission by Fuglevaag will be part of UKS’ 100-year anniversary exhibition at Kunstnernes Hus.
