New exhibition catalogue!
We have produced a catalogue for the exhibition ‘Mad and Brilliant?’ about what happened to Hans Gjesme's artistry while he was admitted to Gaustad Psychiatric Hospital.
Here you will find a foreword by department director Tor Martin Leknes, an article by senior advisor Ingrid Norum, Hans Gjesme's timeline and photos of many works of art from the period.
Hans Gjesme was admitted to Gaustad Hospital in Oslo for 16 years. The artworks he created there have rarely been exhibited or mentioned, as is generally the case with art created in psychiatric institutions in Norwegian art history. Based on Gjesme's works, his patient records, letters and notes, and comparisons with other artists who were admitted, this article sheds light on what Gjesme created at Gaustad and how his illness affected his artistry. The many works reveal new aspects of a closed world.
The catalogue is 68 pages long, in Norwegian and English, and is on sale at Sogn Art Centre for NOK 225.
If you would like to purchase the catalogue and have it sent to you by post, please contact: Sogn Kunstsenter, Guro Nesse, guro.nesse@laerdal.kommune.no, +47 57 64 12 00 / +47 95 89 49 53.
The catalogue is financed by Musea i Sogn og Fjordane, Fritt Ord and Lærdal Municipality.
Ingrid Norum (1973) has a master's degree in art history (University of Oslo, 2000). She has worked as a conservator and senior advisor at the Sogn og Fjordane Art Museum and Museums in Sogn og Fjordane since 2003. Norum has curated some twenty exhibitions and published numerous book and catalogue articles on artists such as Jens Hauge, Knut Rumohr, Robert A. Robinson, Kåre Kivijarvi, Hans Gjesme, Ludvig Eikaas, Elsa Eikaas and Magne Vangsnes.