Galleri Kvikksølv Expanding
i have a few friends now who have become art managers their job is to talk to people and make other people believe in your art it is a weird concept it feels like because the artist has moved so much from the public and the normal people do no longer understand what they write, paint or talk about this may be the cause of the art manager to translate a translator would be a better word for it but they also reach a group of people the artist rarely hangs around with a kind of a diplomat they speak your case and sell your work but most importantly they tell other people what you do.
then what is the role of the artist to make a product the apparatus can feed on so many people are dependent on that artists make art it is kind of the fundament in all this mess of new jobs and roles in the art industry before, the collectors had direct contact with the artist like in renaissance florence and norway's early 20th century artists not long ago the gallerist spoke for the artist now the artist needs a manager to speak to the gallerist.
i have had a lot of thoughts about the curator's role in this context as well the curator is also just a sort of translator how many translators does an artist need to make the viewer understand their art.
i am looking for a solution.
the galleri kvikksølv project is a way of moving around this problem of bureaucracying the artist but the problem may be that the artist does not know how to write, promote or talk about their art as a way to introduce others to it the galleri kvikksølv project is built in a way to have a frame around the whole process making it more concrete when you get picked you have to work intensively with:
- finding a location
- creating the physical gallery
- curating
- writing the press release
- making the poster
- and of course, making the art
within the new moon and the full moon two weeks.
the interesting thing about this whole séance and phenomenon is that it works until now five great exhibitions have come to life because of this framework without any help from a gallerist, curator, writer or graphical designer it is a work by the artist and full trust in what they do will be good.
the gallery's residency program introduces photographers and videographers to explore this phenomenon they do not work as a documentation crew rather artists on their own the artists in residence have full creative freedom they are not bound to document anything one artist we had in the residency program photographed primarily the textures occurring throughout the full moon phenomenon another filmed the whole exhibition with a handheld camera, later to speed it up and add swedish eighteens pop music over it another artist brought out his gameboy to the woods where the exhibition was held, and photographed himself making out together with his girlfriend in front of the exhibiting gallery.
it is their view of the exhibition shown through the medium of their choice with full trust from the caretakers of galleri kvikksølv.
Jørgen Bryn 28.04.2026