Space Making features the work of eight artists, who employ the language of painting as a vehicle for spatial construction: on canvas, in architecture, and as a conceptual tool.

Since the 1980s, Hanne Borchgrevink (b. 1951) has focused extensively on the motif of the house in her paintings. The house appears in its simplest form, as she explores the relationship between surfaces, colors, materiality, distances, and proportions. In Borchgrevink’s practice, space becomes a poetic device. According to Gunnar Danbolt, a “condensed atmosphere” arises from the interplay of formal elements. Her work thus shares similarities with Japanese haiku poetry—expressing much with as few elements as possible.

Gunnar Danbolt (b. 1940) is Professor of European Art History at the University of Bergen. He has published widely on painting and sculpture from Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance, as well as on modern art, art theory, craft, and children’s culture. A sought-after lecturer, Danbolt received the Meltzer Research and Communication Award in 2000. In 2007, he was appointed Knight 1st Class of the Order of St. Olav for his contributions to the dissemination of art. In 2010, he received the Per Sivle Prize for his use of Nynorsk in his book on Norwegian art history. From 2003 to 2015, he co-produced the NRK P2 radio program Kunstreisen (The Art Journey) with Nina Skurtveit, covering historical and contemporary art in collections and exhibitions across Europe and the U.S. Since 2010, Danbolt has held the title of professor emeritus, while remaining active as a speaker and lecturer.

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