1 November – 15 December 2019
UKS

EXHIBITION
VICTORIA PIHL LIND: TO BE BORN IS LIKE THIS

Opening: 1 November 2019
Exhibition: 2 November – 15 December 2019
Interview: Read UKS’ interview with Victoria Pihl Lind here

Please join us for the opening of Oslo-based artist Victoria Pihl Lind’s solo exhibition To Be Born Is Like This on Friday, 1 November between 7–10pm.

I want to die with life. I would so like to die of health. Like someone exploding.
– Clarice Lispector, Agua Viva (1973)

In art, there is a long tradition of utilizing common experiences of vulnerability as generators for creative expression. Some of these notions are at the core of our existence, such as birth, sleep, love, and death, while others are more obscure: to be present without the ability to see or talk; to be aware one is dreaming, yet unable to wake up; or having the sensation that one is falling without moving.

After her recent expansion into theatre and performance, Victoria Pihl Lind has developed an installation consisting of two video works and objects, spreading over the three galleries at UKS. At the center of this new work is the notion of birth, both in the physical sense and as a metaphor for the becoming of art. Human experiences that are profound and incredible are emphasized in her videos depicting a middle-aged man floating under water and hovering above its surface. Falling bodies, spinning midair are juxtaposed with shifting and rotating images taken from art history, twisting their way in and out of the film—not unlike a newborn finding its way through the birth canal.

By carefully selecting her objects, video footage, and quotations, Lind weaves a powerful narrative of poetic language. Rather than desensitizing these vulnerable aspects of life, which seems to be a tendency within contemporary society, the work invites the visitor to celebrate their importance, highlighting their workings and roles in the production of art.

 

Victoria Pihl Lind’s exhibition is made possible with the kind support from the Arts Council Norway, Fond for lyd og bilde, and Billedkunstnernes Vederlagsfond.

 

BIOGRAPHY:
Victoria Pihl Lind (b. 1981, NO) lives and works in Oslo. She is a graduate from the Academy of Fine Art in Oslo and has studied at Chelsea College, London. Lind was included in the Sydney Biennale in 2014 and within performance and film exhibitions including Det nye mennesket at Frognerbadet/KORO, Oslo (2017), Det nye mennesket at Galleri Noplace, Oslo (2016), A Tone to Play—Abc According to Ingeborg Bachmann and Paul Celan at Oslo Kunstforening (2013), and Universalman at Galleri Maria Veie, Oslo (2012).

 

PRESS:

— Review in Morgenbladet (newspaper)
Et svev og et plask, Morgenbladet, 15.11.2019

— Review in Kunstkritikk (online journal)
Badersken kjeder seg, Kunstkritikk, 26.11.2019

 

*Image: Victoria Pihl Lind, Happy Shock, 2019 (video still)

Victoria Pihl Lind, “To Be Born Is Like This” at UKS

Images from the opening of Victoria Pihl Lind’s exhibition “To Be Born Is Like This”, 1 November 2019 at UKS. Photo by Amanda Nabben

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