Anne Guro Larsmon

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Soaked Chloé. Lavare. Dying honey.

S o l o e x h i b i t i o n b yAnne Guro Larsmon

o p e n i n G p e r f o r m a n c e & t e x t b y Marthe Ramm Fortun

d a n c i n G a n d d i S p e r S i n G ,

a m a S S i n G a n d b e c o m i n G .

Geir Haraldseth

the tendency to read a work of art as biographical is incredibly

tempting at times. andy Warhol, the character, is rarely left out when

looking at, exactly, a Warhol. Jackson pollock comes to mind as a

figure hard to omit when looking, thinking, or writing about his paint-

ings. We are constantly reminded of the artist in representations in

photos, movies, and the stories told, let alone the work in itself. tracy

emin employs autobiography actively in her work and the artist’s bio-

graphy becomes a genre and a medium in its own right as emin veers

through stereotypical renditions of the artist, mixed in with soap opera

scenarios, sex, and confessions. it’s hard to see a sculpture, print, or

drawing by louise bourgeois and not think of the artist’s biographical

writing. the artist’s biography is still a subject met with great interest

by many, but what of a young artist’s first solo exhibition? are we al-

lowed a peek into the world of anne Guro larsmon in her solo exhibi-

tion, Girl, interrupted! ?

looking at the works themselves, curious constellations of

debris, found materials, doorways, posts and pillars, some more po-

etic than another, some more unbelievable than others, there is not

much that tells you anything about the artist’s biography. at least not

at first sight. the materials selected by larsmon look like they belong

somewhere in the past, like they have been ripped from time and

space to be reconfigured here in the exhibition space. the items in the

room have belonged at some point to some time. maybe a door from

a house, tiles from a bathroom, or a cane from an elderly person. the

materials have been selected and picked to represent form in unison

with the other materials and the other works in the exhibition. form

that point to art history, to design, to personal space, and to poetics.

and to larsmon herself. the artist has developed a sense of joining

and constellation that can be read in context of her generation of

artists, as many are avid interpreters of the personal and general sub-

texts, but larsmon often underlines the particularly personal, which is

a great strength. While similar formal qualities and interests can be

found in the work of other artists, there is something more vulnerable

in larsmon’s work. Some artists might be more clear and obvious in

shapes and choice of materials, while larsmon infuses her work with

romance, loss, and melancholy.

the title of the show refers to a painting by Vermeer, “Girl

interrupted at her music,” from c. 1658-1661. the painting shows

a girl studying sheets of music with an instructor or a possible suitor

leaning over the girl. the girl is not paying any intention to the instruc-

tor, but rather looks over her shoulder and acknowledges the painter

and creates a situation of uncertainty for the viewer. is she looking at

the painter or at us? the subject of the painting is interacting with the

painter, if not us, making us aware of our own stance in front of the

painting, but also to consider the painter painting. larsmon has short-

ened the title of the exhibition to Girl, interrupted! adding an excited

exclamation mark! the shortened version strays from the art historical

reference and leads us to a more popular and recent reference. the

movie, “Girl interrupted”, from 1996, is a harrowing account of com-

ing of age, madness, and friendship between a group of young girls

in an institution. it’s easy to draw the lines to larsmon herself in both

references. the girl in Vermeer’s painting is rupturing her restricted

role as a subject and turns the painting into an intriguing personal

case, something many artists are still trying to figure out to this day

and age. in the case of the movie, it’s a story of finding one’s way in

the world, and the protagonist in the movie uses painting and music

as therapeutic tools to encounter and restructure the world. i’m not

insinuating that larsmon has been receiving therapy, spent time in an

institution or taken lessons to learn how to play a musical instrument

with a suitor behind her, but this is exactly the push and pull offered by

such connotations. is larsmon the girl in the painting trying to find her

way, or is she the painter, pulling the strings and setting the scenarios?

the artist is certainly willing to be playful in this situation, by adding

an exclamation mark, changing the potential trauma of interrupting

a subject, being formed, into a statement, perhaps an emancipatory

shout of triumph.

the sculptures in the exhibition can all be read as scenarios,

or even a larger unified scenario with many sets, or stories. the sets

might be pulled from larsmon’s own life, but they suggest a passing,

and a story. the scent of a perfume bottle will fill the room at the open-

ing, but slowly dissipates over time. that’s entropy, but larsmon uses

our olfactory sense to spin tales, seduce and narrate the exhibition,

instead of showing us decay by more terminal means a la Smithson.

if we follow the trail of information left by the press release, we find

that the scent was used by larsmon’s mother, who died while larsmon

was still a young girl, interrupted. the presence of the mother’s smell

dissipates, and all that is left are the bottles of perfume and their

exquisite pumps.

there is an upward movement in the exhibition. many of the

sculptures consist of cylinders and pillars that connect to elongate

and reach. they are made out of steel or wood, like hesitation Walz,

consisting of bars from a banister. there’s a wooden beam covered

with white tiles, leaning over and tilting. it’s heavy and clunky. there

are three metal rods fitted with door handles on top, ready to open

if you can reach them. like a small child wanting to repeat the pat-

terns of a mother, to play, to reach, something out of reach, something

unattainable. the scenarios are referencing those moments from

childhood, where things are so close, yet so far away, not just objects

of desire, but concepts of life, where you enter a room, or look up a

flight of stairs or down the basement, trying to grasp your position in

the world and identity is constructed. if we return to Vermeer’s painting

of the girl, interrupted, it is easy to forget that the motif is actually a

domestic set, inside a room, with chairs, a table, a window, a paint-

ing and other everyday items. the items are clearly not just items, but

act as symbols, cluing us in on status, values, stories and hinting at

the person’s person. larsmon is doing the same in this exhibition, but

effectively destroying the links to the every day world, by disassembling

items and mementos into materials, extending and re-accumulating

them in a dramatic setting. the narrative in the exhibition is seductive

on many levels, through smell and constellations, and we are invited

along to dance, perhaps a waltz, where larsmon is leading the way.

Something lingers in this room, caught in the simulacrum of object-

memory-history. the momentary interruption is soft like a mothers

scolding. harsh words seem a token of care in her absence, demonic

when she is near. Words are spoken in secret, to encompass a series

of domestic rules. Who will maintain these rituals; rearrange the fur-

niture, keepsake traditions? Girl, not-so-comely now.

4 S i t u a t i o n S

Marthe Ramm Fortun

the artist herself is part of the simulacrum, caught in a love affair

with the commodity. there is no shape or logic to the past 100 years.

a century of violence is transformed into sweeping movements with

specific gestures and facial expressions. if this room is a home, it is

womb bound and possessible like a picasso painting. the artist inter-

rupts this space with her image.

the peeping tom animates the space, adding its scents to her voca-

bulary. objecthood relies on an observer to transcend into reality.

Soaked in it, this manifestation is killing the totem and re-creating

it in one sweeping movement. the text is supported by a desire for

something outside the body. the palimpsest could be a flowered

wallpaper, a backdrop for your fading presence.

beauty forces itself on the sharp structure of anti-aesthetics, invert-

ing the subject. like a spread in the new york post, the images are

spilling, pouring onto text. fresh type ink smudges the door handle,

negotiating the neutrality of the gallery space. true to this coalition

of object-memory-history, Vermeer painted his subjects as startled

deer. She adds movement to his brushstrokes.

Hesitation Waltz, 2010.Found objects on wooden plate. 50 x 25 x 100 cm.

Soaked Chloé II, 2010.Perfume on wooden shelf.45 x 21 x 70 cm.

High heels, 2010.Door handle & found wood.Dimensions variable.

Ohne titel , 2010.Pipes, door handles & wood.50 x 25 x 150 cm.

Krümmt, 2010.Found metal.110 x 110 cm.

Soaked Chloé I, 2010.Wood soaked in perfume.30 x 30 x 170 cm.

< previous pages

Installation view I: Ohne titel, 2010.High heels, 2010.Soaked Chloé II, 2010.Hesitation Waltz, 2010.

Installation view II:Soaked Chloé I, 2010.Krümmt, 2010.Boom. Bloom. Blossom, 2010.

Installation view III:Lavare I, 2010.Lavare II, 2010.Wooden pole & tiles.10 x 10 x 200 cm.

Dying honey, 2010.Found wood lubricated in honey.Dimensions variable.

Boom. Bloom. Blossom, 2010.Framed wallpaper & steel legs.50 x 90 cm.

Lavare I, 2010.Wooden pole & door handle.10 x 10 x 150 cm.

anne Guro larsmon (b. 1981) in finnskogen, norway. lives and

works in oslo and berlin. larsmon is a graduate from bergen

national academy of the arts and Konstfack university college

of arts, crafts and design. recent exhibitions include post puberty

with artist emma Wright, podium (oslo). We are the world, roots

& culture contemporary art center (chicago) and tempo Skien,

telemark art center (Skien). larsmon has recently finished her

norway office for contemporary arts residency at Kunst-Werke

(berlin). She has also been appointed with an artist studio residency

for 5 years by the arts council of oslo at rådmannsgården.

marthe ramm fortun (b. 1978) is a graduate from new york univer-

sity. She lives and works in oslo and new york. her performances

have been presented at venues such as Sculpturecenter (ny),

Jessica Silverman Gallery (Sf) and unge Kunstneres Samfund (oslo).

this January, she starts a 5 month long performance series at Vest-

landsutstillingen 2011 in collaboration with new york artists Kari

adelaide and Juliet Jacobson.

larsmon and ramm fortun are currently working together on the

upcoming show Joseph beuys was a feminist.

Styx press

publication no 3

this catalogue was published

on the occasion of the exhibition:

anne Guro larsmon

Girl, interrupted!

3–22 december 2010

Styx projects berlin

curator

michael rade

text

Geir haraldseth

marthe ramm fortun

photos

leo Kaufmann

layout

andreas Knag-danielsen

© 2010 anne Guro larsmon

© 2010 Styx projects/Styx press

all rights reserved.

Styx press publication no 3