Arteriet gallery is inviting to the opening of Sturmgeist`s first solo exhibition in Kristiansand, open works by Melissa Lesamana. Norway Friday June 5th at 6.00 PM.
We are following the government`s advice to prevent the spreading of Covid19 and will only allow 50 persons in the gallery rooms at the opening. We are also advicing people to keep the 1 meter distance rule and use the antibac at the entrance.
«Angel of Death» marks Sturmgeist’s transition from writer and musician to that of self-styled visual artist, belonging to no school or genre.
Since Sturmgeist moved from Berlin and back to his native Kristiansand in early 2018, he has seen the town as being under attack by a populist, secret conspiracy, ready to engage in mob-style tactics and drag the good name of any citizen they see fit, into the mud. Nobody was safe from this network consisting mainly of uneducated, white Norwegian males, as spouses, families and politicians with a medical condition or a minority background all suffered the same harassment.
At first, in 2018 it was the establishment of a new art museum («KunstSilo») and a generous donation from a private investor that sparked their ire, entailing a campaign of propaganda and personal harassment on a scale that Kristiansand had not previously known. In 2019, the conspiracy’s anonymous news channel «SN» contributed to manipulate the local election, ultimately succeeding in altering the power balance in Kristiansand, with 13.5% of the votes going to the Nationalist far-right party «Demokratene» («The Democrats»).
The man responsible for funding the conspiracy’s own news channel, is a local business man who trades in China plastic and cosmetics. Under the slogan «Paint Europe pink», he aims at conquering cosmetic markets in Germany, Austria and Switzerland - markets that so far seem to be unaware of the business owner’s secretly sponsoring and endorsing a far-right populist party in Norway.
As the same man happened to be one of Sturmgeist bullies back in the school days, needless to say, enough’s enough; the savage propaganda activity of a bully that never seems to learn, needs to be countered and dealt with, once and for all. Both for the integrity of the victims of his and his conspiracy’s harassment campaigns, and for the good standing of the town of Kristiansand at home and abroad.
By resorting to the brush, the pen, the spray-can and the painter’s knife, Sturmgeist has prepared his counter-strike; the solo exhibition «Angel of Death» responds to the information warfare initiated by the conspiracy in 2018, by deploying 25 propaganda posters in an artistic act of self-defense. As is customary in any struggle, the gloves have come off, and now is the time for Sturmgeist to fight back with weapons such as caricature, derision and accusation mediated through canvas and colour.
Sturmgeist is a nom de guerre for Norwegian writer and musician Cornelius von Jackhelln, often used in artistic contexts relating to propaganda, polemic and information warfare.
The last day of the exhibition is Sunday June 21st.
The opening hours of Arteriet is Thursday - Sunday 12.00 - 4.00 PM.
If you are interested in a private tour outside opening hours, please contact us.
51K Arteriet is supported by the Arts Council Norway.
The exhibition "Angel of Death" challenges the boundaries of many people, with its controversial subjects and references, and is in this manner very representative of the spirit of Arteriet.
