ASK BJØRLO: SPENT SPEKTER

Picture taken from: https://www.softgalleri.no/utstillinger/ask-bjorlo/

21 April – 29 May 2022
Soft Galleri Oslo

Welcome to the opening of Ask Bjørlo’s exhibition Spent spekter (Taut Spectre) at SOFT galleri, Thursday, 21 April, from 6 to 8 pm. 

Ask Bjørlo’s exhibition consists of hand-woven works mounted on the gallery’s walls. Just as in the loom, the weavings are taut and shown with horizontal warp. Against a background of white linen, hand-coloured wool yarn is woven in with gradated and vertical stripes as the motif. The colour intensity varies depending on the viewing angle and is most intense when seen from the side. Overlapping threads secure the transitions and allude to the technical aspects of weaving. The exhibition points, in all its simplicity, to colours in a woven textile, but just as with everything else, the order of the colours is open to interpretation. For the artist, the works have an underlying message about human reference points, feelings and patience.

The linen warp is taut in the loom. Like a blank sheet of paper, it invites new elements. These are woven in and placed in an order. The tones are conjured in my own cauldron. They mesmerise as they emerge. The yarn absorbs the colour in the bath, so what was initially a dark liquid is now clear. It’s not until the yarn is dry and I take it out into the daylight that I see which tone it is. Every nuance has its own place in time and space, and we use these nuances as reference points in life. Like a timeline, old and new colours are collected. For they have always existed around us. Memories carry colours, and like ghosts – spectres – they cannot be touched with hands. Neither can you touch a rainbow or the spectrum of light refracted through a prism. But like a mysterious friend, the phenomenon can follow you with light. The sun casts colour spectres that can be discovered in everything from cobwebs to mother-of-pearl clouds. They surface along the road, in puddles and reflections. In a glass of water. See and follow along. The colours you see are yours.

Ask Bjørlo (b. 1992, Hønefoss, Norway) has an MA in material-based art from Oslo National Academy of the Arts (KHiO, 2017–19). Before studying at KHiO he attended well-reputed textile schools such as Nyckelviksskolan and Handarbetets Vänners Skola in Stockholm and Kawashima Textile School in Kyoto. He also studied textile science at Uppsala University. In his artistic practice he focuses on textile crafting traditions in weaving, embroidery, knitting, lacemaking and textile sculpture. Bjørlo’s works have been exhibited in (a selection) Kunsthall Oslo, Stavanger Kunstmuseum, Chart Art Fairin Copenhagen, Kunstnerforbundet in Oslo, Kunsthall Stavanger and Sandefjords kunstforening. In the spring of 2021 Bjørlo held his first solo exhibition Tråd varsomt (Thread Carefully)at OSL Contemporary. In 2022 he will participate in the exhibition Det skeive blikket (The Queer Gaze)at KODE in Bergen, and the Market Art Fair in Stockholm. His works have been purchased for public collections such as Stavanger Art Museum, Oslo Municipality, KODE in Bergen, Kistefos Museum, Nordenfjeldske Kunstindustrimuseum and Nordea Art Collection.