Anne-Karin Furunes
ALL MOST
November 30, 2023 – January 20, 2024
Opening Reception: Thursday, November 30, 6:00-8:00pm

RYAN LEE is pleased to announce ALL MOST, an exhibition of new paintings by leading Norwegian artist Anne-Karin Furunes. Meditating on the natural world, its sublime beauty, and the current environmental threats imperiling it, Furunes’ series addresses the catastrophic consequences of global warming and the ephemera of nature through monumental depictions of calving icebergs and various transient states of precipitation. This is Furunes’s fourth exhibition at the gallery.

The emphasis of the show is on works that capture the moment when chunks of ice ablate, melt, or break from larger bergs; the exhibition also includes portrayals of clouds pregnant with rain, alongside other powerful interferences of water. Each painting, some of which are up to thirteen feet long, offers an expansion upon the artist’s signature perforation technique. This meticulous method involves applying tiny, hand-made holes to canvas, which is then layered with pointillist-like spots of color that, upon stepping back, mimic the look of halftone printing. Manipulations of light, scale and color deploy slight optical illusions that adjust a viewer’s perception, based on where they’re standing. The immersion in both scene and detail invites proximity and empathy toward the glacial trauma, and its suggestions of imminent climate tragedies.

Employing her long-time engagement with archival photographs, these new paintings are inspired by the ongoing documentation of calving icebergs in the remote archipelago of Svalbard, Norway that have been compiled by glaciologists at the Norwegian Polar Institute. The original images, which depict the dramatic changes in our environment caused by climate change, served as the impetus for Furunes to revisit the subject of the calving iceberg, one which she first explored in her early work over two decades ago.

Furunes also finds inspiration in the wonder and mystery of the transformations that take shape in the natural world at large. From the changing states of climate, to the different speeds at which bodies of water move in waterfalls or maelstroms, “We see spectacular moments of nature’s force that are awe-inspiring,” she says. “As an artist, I want to remind people of the beauty of nature, [but also that it] will be lost forever unless we change our habits of consuming.” 

Concepts of slow consumption are imbued not only in each artwork’s invocations, but also in their production. Each painting in ALL MOST is composed manually, laboriously, and lovingly, as Furunes hand-punctures every perforation. Through this process she is literally shedding light on the ongoing destruction of the natural world. Adding dotted layers of indigo, cyan, magenta, and yellow ink to the canvases, Furunes intensifies and deepens the optical effect of each scene: from up close, the pointillist details are entirely abstract, while from afar, the human eye joins red, blue and yellow to create the clarified image. Furunes’ gestures with these dots considers multiple scales and experiences in her compositions, at once creating friction and unity through her precise and astute manipulation of pattern and color. The works, both tragic and captivating, beckon viewers to become re-enchanted by our ecologies. They ignite Furunes’ belief in “a possible future where we can continue to admire life in its manifold shapes and ways,” and in a world where we can more truly “live in harmony with other living beings.”

While Furunes’s previous works have powerfully presented human victims of history – particularly her evocative depictions of Norway’s colonized native Sámi people – she now focuses her gaze on the global state of a victimized ecosystem. She reminds us that “nothing is guaranteed unless we all drastically change our way of living,” and in her works offers us agency and the opportunity to ally with the natural world through its appreciation, by understanding its traumas and indulging in a more empathetic cohabitation.

Anne-Karin Furunes (b. 1961, Ørland, Norway) is a leading Scandinavian artist in painting and public commissions. Since 1992, Furunes has developed a signature technique of perforating canvas or metal to consider photographic and digital elements of space, light and material. The punctured holes in her canvases mimic the halftone process, most popularly used in periodicals. Furunes does not employ a computer to create her images, instead she composes them manually. Substituting ink for light, she creates a star pattern on a diagonal grid, cutting each hole by hand to create an image through the way the human eye perceives light. Furunes works from archival photographs. She departs from the original images by adjusting color, cropping, light and perspective. This method of removing in order to reveal complements Furunes’s research-based practice that frequently focuses on forgotten histories and people.

Trained as an artist and architect, Furunes received her degree from the Trondheim Academy of Fine Art in Norway. In 2021, she was nominated for the ARS Fennica Award in Finland. Her work has been included in solo and group exhibitions at Hå Gamle Prestegard, Nærbø, Norway (2023); Nordenfjeldske Kunstindustrimuseum, Trondheim, Norway (2022); Paul Robeson Galleries, Rutgers University, NJ (2018); Fondazione Musei Civica, Palazzo Ducale, Venice, Italy (2017); Trondheim Kunstmuseum, Tronheim, Norway (2017); Palazzo Fortuny, in conjunction with the 56th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy (2015);  Espoo  Museum  of  Modern Art, Espoo, Finland (2014); International Print Center, NY (2013); Katonah Museum, NY (2013). She is represented in prominent public collections worldwide including Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki, Finland; Kistefos Museum, Jevnaker, Norway; Museum of Arts and Design, New York, NY; National Museum, Beijing, China; National Museum of Contemporary Art, Oslo, Norway; and Trondheim Kunstmuseum, Trondheim, Norway, among others. Furunes lives and works in Stjørdal, Norway. 

About RYAN LEE
Celebrating emerging and established artists and estates, RYAN LEE takes a multi-generational approach to its programming, presenting innovative and scholarly exhibitions across all spectrums of art practices, including painting, photography, video, sculpture, and performance. The gallery takes chances on a wide variety of boundary-pushing artists; their work consistently transcends political, cultural, material, or technical boundaries. In addition, RYAN LEE has, throughout its history, demonstrated its long-standing interest and dedication to feminist, Black and Asian American, as well as queer narratives in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Founded in 2013 by Mary Ryan and Jeffrey Lee, the gallery is led by partners of different generations and backgrounds with over six decades of combined experiences informing its unique approach.