OSLO.- Henie Onstad Kunstsenter announced the official opening of Gallery Merz, a new space dedicated to the German avant-garde artist Kurt Schwitters, his contemporaries, and the artists he later inspired. On September 3, Gallery Merz will be formally inaugurated with an event featuring a newly commissioned work by the Norwegian performance artist Marthe Ramm Fortun and a performance by the German born musician and performance artist Florian Kaplick, based on texts by Kurt Schwitters.
The new 430-square-metre exhibition gallery is spread across two levels and is integrated into the original Henie Onstad Kunstsenter 1968 building. It is the result of a close collaboration between the internationally renowned architecture practice Snøhetta and the artist Luca Frei, who has been responsible for the exhibition design. Sustainability and the reuse of materials in existing rooms are central to the project.
Gallery Merz takes its name from Schwitters’ (1887–1948) own word “Merz,” which he used to signify his entire life and work. Before emigrating to Norway in January 1937, Schwitters had established a close relationship with the country through many stays there. His time in Norway ended after the war broke out in 1940 and he fled to England, where he died in 1948. His considerable output during this period consists of collages, portraits, landscapes, several prose texts and an unfinished script. He also created two interiors, or so-called Merzbaus, one outside Molde at Hjertøya and the other at Lysaker, located close to Henie Onstad.
Tone Hansen, director of Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, says: “Together with the Savings Bank Foundation DnB, we have conceived a completely unique exhibition framework for a distinctive collection. The ambition of collecting and presenting with innovative methods like this will have implications for both long-term research and the public experience. In close collaboration with Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, the architects at Snøhetta and Luca Frei have created a space for curiosity and discovery.”
The gallery features the semi-permanent exhibition, Merz! Flux! Pop!, which presents works by Schwitters, his contemporaries, and the artists he later inspired. The presentation tells the story of Schwitters’ years in Norway, introduces his unique working method and philosophy “Merz,” and highlights the artists who, at the turn of the last century, were united together with Schwitters in a revitalization and transformation of art.
The exhibition also includes material from Henie Onstad Kunstsenter’s Fluxus collection which was established in the latter half of the 1980s. Unique to Gallery Merz is the display of a cabinet that Fluxus artist George Maciunas designed in 1975 for the prominent American librarian and collector Jean Brown (1911–1994). Henie Onstad Kunstsenter acquired parts of Brown’s archive in 2013, including her personal correspondence, and a selection of this material is now on display in the cabinet for the public to study.
Caroline Ugelstad, chief curator and curator of the exhibition, says: “Schwitters was one of the most distinctive and versatile artists in the first half of the 20th century. As the exhibition shows, the artistic tactics and strategies he developed have significantly impacted later generations. It is outstanding that Henie Onstad Kunstsenter has been able to create a permanent presentation of its Fluxus and Jean Brown material, which underscores the institution’s continuous dedication to works that are experimental, innovative and defy easy categorization. Gallery Merz is a fabulous starting point for further work with the avant-garde at Henie Onstad Kunstsenter in new exhibitions and activities.”
Merz! Flux! Pop! presents more than 150 works by artists such as Eric Andersen, Arman, Jean Arp, Lene Berg, Constantin Brancusi, Henri Chopin, Merce Cunningham, Sonia Delanuay, Max Ernst, Robert Filliou, Ken Friedman, Juan Gris, Geoffrey Hendricks, Alice Hutchins, Jacqueline de Jong, Ray Johnson, Tadeuz Kantor, Paul Klee, Jiří Kolář, Shigeko Kubota, Fernand Léger, George Maciunas, Larry Miller, Joan Miró, Yoko Ono, Francis Picabia, Man Ray, Kurt Schwitters, Mieko Shiomi, Olav Strømme and Robert Watts, among others, while works by Hannah Höch and René Magritte are presented for the first time in Norway.
