Heidi+Rasmus=True Love
November 21, 2024–March 16, 2025
Kode Bergen Art Museum is pleased to present the acclaimed ceramic artist Heidi Bjørgan in a captivating exhibition that creatively intertwines her expressive works with the museum's historic collections. The exhibition will run from November 21, 2024, to March 16, 2025 in Bergen.
Heidi Bjørgan is internationally recognized for her experimental and expressive ceramic forms that push the boundaries of form and material, as well as for her theatrical, spatial installations inspired by directors such as Peter Greenaway, David Lynch, and Robert Wilson.
Considered one of the foremost craft artists of her generation in Norway, Bjørgan's work often engages in dialogue with the history of ceramics, exploring and deconstructing its archetypal vocabulary and challenging preconceptions of beauty and ugliness, right and wrong.
Rasmus Meyer (1858–1916) is widely known for his collection of historic interiors and masterpieces from Norway's "golden age" of art, featuring painters like J.C. Dahl, Harriet Backer, and Edvard Munch. Donated to the city of Bergen upon Meyer's death, these works now form a cornerstone of the Kode collections. Less known, however, is Meyer's deep appreciation for decorative arts, and his exquisite collection of ceramics, once described as unparalleled in Norway.
To mark the centennial of the Rasmus Meyer Collections, Heidi Bjørgan will curate an intervention that brings her work into dialogue with Meyer's legacy. Titled Heidi + Rasmus = True Love, the exhibition unites two kindred spirits —a contemporary artist and a historical collector —both with a true love for the art of ceramics.
One of Bjørgan's major influences is the American ceramicist George Ohr (1857–1918), also known as “The Mad Potter of Biloxi.” Ohr was one of the first to challenge the idea that ceramics had to serve a functional purpose. Another source of late-19th-century inspiration is is the Danish ceramic artist Hans Hjorth (1878–1966), part of the family dynasty that ran Hjorts Fabrik on Bornholm in the Baltic Sea. Hidden in the factory's storerooms, Bjørgan discovered old casting molds, typical examples of Skønvirke—the Danish equivalent of Art Nouveau.
Using the historical plaster molds, Bjørgan has reinterpreted these forms for the exhibition, deconstructing their physical appearance and covering them with unexpected combinations of glazes. These expressive techniques give her works a distinct modern appearance—at the same time as clearly alluding to the history of ceramics.
Through her contemporary female perspective, Heidi Bjørgan's intervention reshapes spaces traditionally defined by the male-dominated Meyer collection, opening unexpected dialogues that challenge and expand the museum's historic narratives.
About the artist
Heidi Bjørgan (b. 1970) graduated from Konstfack in Stockholm and the Bergen Academy of Art and Design. She has participated in numerous group exhibitions and fairs, both nationally and internationally, including the National Museum in Oslo, Taste Contemporary in Geneva, Simone DeSousa Gallery, Detroit and Wu Changshuo Museum, Shanghai.
Bjørgan's works are part of numerous museum and private collections within and beyond Norway, including the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design in Oslo, National Museum of Decorative Arts in Trondheim, Kode Bergen Art Museum, and Kunstsilo.
