Bjarne Melgaard

Born in 1967 in Sydney, Australia, Bjarne Melgaard is a Norwegian artist living and working in New York. He received his formal art training at the Norwegian National Academy of Fine Arts, and the Rijksacademie and Jan Van Eyck Academie in the Netherlands where he completed his studies in 1993. His work has been featured at museums including De Appel, Bergen Kunstmuseum, Galleria d’Arte Moderna Bologna, and Kiasma Helsinki, as well as the 5th Lyon, 24th Sao Paolo, and Manifesta II Biennales. Redefining the notion of authorship, Melgaard’s

canvases are conceived as excerpts from his ongoing painterly novels; which alongside his extended practice of sculpture, installation, and product design contrive elaborate meta-fictions that excavate the darkest depths of sub-culture. Blurring the bounds between abject degeneracy and shameless opulence Melgaard draws from all manner of inspiration, from heavy metal to art history, cartoons to porn, to articulate his subversive narratives and embellish his notorious cast of star characters.

Past exhibitions

Biography

Selected Solo Exhibitions
2021
  • Bjarne Melgaard, Keteleer Gallery, Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
2020
  • Bjarne Melgaard: Elisabeth and Me, Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris (Marais), 3e, Paris, France
2019
  • Bjarne Melgaard: Let Your Mind Be Your Bed, Kunsthall Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway
2018
  • Bjarne Melgaard: Regionalt norsk maleri, Nanna og Frigg microdoserer og en ny roman, Galleri Brandstrup, Oslo, Norway
  • Bjarne Melgaard: New Novel Paintings, CFA, Contemporary Fine Arts, Charlottenburg, Berlin, Germany
  • Bodyparty (Substance Paintings), Thaddaeus Ropac, London, Mayfair, London, UK
2017
  • Bjarne Melgaard: A Drawing Show, CFA, Contemporary Fine Arts, Charlottenburg, Berlin, Germany
  • Bjarne Melgaard: Sugar Amnesia, Galleri Golsa, Oslo, Norway
  • Bjarne Melgaard: The Casual Pleasure of Disappointment, Red Bull Arts New York, Chelsea, New York, USA
  • Bjarne Melgaard & Bjørg: The Casual Pleasure of Disappointment, Gavin Brown’s enterprise, Grand Street, New York, USA
2016
  • Bjarne Melgaard: Right Here Right Now, Lars Bohman Gallery, Karlavägen, Stockholm, Sweden
2015
  • Bjarne Melgaard: The Casual Pleasure of Disappointment, Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris (Marais), 3e, Paris, France
2014
  • Bjarne Melgaard: Bitter Angel, Faurschou Foundation, Beijing, Chaoyang, Beijing, China
2013
  • Collection exhibition: Bjarne Melgaard, Astrup Fearnley Museet, Oslo, Norway
  • Bjarne Melgaard: Ignorant Transparencies, Gavin Brown’s enterprise, Greenwich Street, Greenwich Village, New York, USA
2012
  • Bjarne Melgaard: A House to Die In, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, St. James’s, London, UK
2010
  • Bjarne Melgaard: Inside Patricia, Patricia Low Contemporary, Gstaad, Gstaad, Switzerland
  • Bjarne Melgaard, Stella Lohaus, Antwerp, Belgium
  • Bjarne Melgaard and Rod Bianco: Super Normal, De Appel Amsterdam (Schipluidenlaan 12), Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • Bjarne Melgaard, Greene Naftali, New York, Chelsea, New York, USA
  • Bjarne Melgaard: Jealous, KODE Art Museums of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
  • Bjarne Melgaard: Jealous, Astrup Fearnley Museet, Oslo, Norway
2008
  • Bjarne Melgaard, Greene Naftali, New York, Chelsea, New York, USA
Selected Group Exhibitions
2021
  • MDD Reopening, Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Deurle, Belgium
  • Oh, Honey… A Queer Reading of the Collection, University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
  • The Looking Glass, The Shed, Chelsea, New York, USA
  • The Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife, Ruttkowski;68, Paris, 3e, Paris, France
  • Showroom, Galerie Krinzinger, Vienna, Austria
2020
  • Time for Outrage! Art in times of social anger, Museum Kunstpalast Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
  • Drawing 2020, Gladstone Gallery, New York (21st Street), New York, USA
  • The Sewers Of Mars, Reena Spaulings Fine Art, New York, USA
  • Faces and Names, Galerie Guido W. Baudach, Berlin, Germany
  • Museum De Domijnen Presenteert II: Mens en dier, Museum Het Domein, Sittard, Netherlands
2019
  • Looking Forward, Keteleer Gallery, Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
  • Installations From 25 Years Of The Falckenberg Collection, Deichtorhallen Hamburg, Falckenberg Collection, Hamburg, Germany
  • Bjarne Melgaard & Koo Jeong A, Julia Stoschek Collection, Berlin, Berlin, Germany
  • Acute Art at Julia Stoschek Collection: Bjarne Melgaard & Koo Jeong A, Julia Stoschek Collection, Berlin, Berlin, Germany
  • Naturally Naked, Gary Tatintsian Gallery, Moscow, Russia
  • A Seed’s A Star, Loyal Gallery, Stockholm, Sweden
  • Winter Group Show, Skarstedt Gallery, London, St. James’s, London, UK
  • Fuck Your Fear, Van Horn, Düsseldorf, Germany
  • Ser du tegninga?, SKMU Sørlandets Kunstmuseum, Kristiansand, Norway
2018
  • The Weather Outside, Freedman Fitzpatrick, Paris, Paris, France
  • Foundation for Contemporary Arts 2018 Benefit Exhibition, Gladstone Gallery, New York (21st Street), New York, USA
  • Impulse Control, Freedman Fitzpatrick, Paris, Paris, France
  • Mature Themes, Foxy Production, Lower East Side, New York, USA
  • Bjarne Melgaard & Sverre Bjertnes: Noe Maa Gaa I Stykker, Galleri Golsa, Oslo, Norway
  • Sverre Bjertnes & Bjarne Melgaard: Den borgerlige byrde, Galleri Brandstrup, Oslo, Norway
2017
  • Body, Galerie Reinhard Hauff, Stuttgart, Germany
  • Homeward Bound, Nicodim Gallery, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
  • Recent Acquisitions, Faurschou Foundation, Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
  • Like, Galerie Sébastien Bertrand, Geneva, Switzerland
  • White Trash, Luhring Augustine, Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York, USA
2016
  • Painters’ Painters, Saatchi Gallery, London, UK
  • Don’t Look Back, CFA, Contemporary Fine Arts, Charlottenburg, Berlin, Germany
  • Golden Eggs, Team Gallery, Grand Street, Soho, New York, USA
2015
  • The World is Made of Stories, Astrup Fearnley Museet, Oslo, Norway
  • The Avant-Garde Won’t Give Up: Cobra and Its Legacy, Blum & Poe, Los Angeles, Palms, Los Angeles, California, USA
  • Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash, Isabella Bortolozzi Galerie, Kreuzberg, Berlin, Germany
  • A Walk…, Tripoli Gallery, Southampton, New York, USA
  • Summer Exhibition, Galerie Forsblom, Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
  • Works from the Astrup Fearnley Collection, Astrup Fearnley Museet, Oslo, Norway
  • Rickhard/Melgaard, Henie Onstad Art Center, Høvikodden, Norway
  • Melgaard + Munch: The End of It All Has Already Happened, Munch Museum, Oslo, Norway
  • Call and Response, Gavin Brown’s enterprise, Greenwich Street, Greenwich Village, New York, USA
2014
  • Group Exhibition, BORCH Gallery, Berlin, Germany
  • Early Man, The Hole, 312 St., Soho, New York, USA
  • Amerika, David Castillo Gallery, Miami, Florida, USA
  • Pop Sculpture – Pop Culture, Leila Heller Gallery, 57th Street, 57th Street, New York, USA
  • Whitney Biennial 2014, Whitney Museum of American Art, Greenwich Village, New York, USA
  • The Drawing Room, Magasin 3 Stockholm Konsthall, Stockholm, Sweden
2013
  • Empire State: New York Art Now, Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris (Pantin), Paris, France
  • 9 Artists, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
  • Empire State. New York art now, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome, Rome, Italy
  • Chicken or Beef? A Transcontinental Survey of Figurative Painting, The Hole, 312 St., Soho, New York, USA
  • Looking Back / The 7th White Columns Annual, White Columns, Greenwich Village, New York, USA
2012
  • Drawings, Lars Bohman Gallery, Karlavägen, Stockholm, Sweden
2011
  • Zwei Sammler – Thomas Olbricht and Harald Falckenberg, Deichtorhallen Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
  • Absolute Installation, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Oslo, Oslo, Norway
2010
  • Astrup Fearnley Collection: Rotating Views #2, Astrup Fearnley Museet, Oslo, Norway
  • Sweat, Patricia Low Contemporary, Gstaad, Gstaad, Switzerland
  • Forced Exposure, Team Gallery, Grand Street, Soho, New York, USA
2009
  • The Bichon Frisé in Art, Art Since the Summer of ’69, Lower East Side, New York, USA
  • Two in one, Witte de With Centrum voor Hedendaagse Kunst (Center for Contemporary Art), Rotterdam, Netherlands
2008
  • In stock – Uit stock, Galerie Tanya Rumpff, Haarlem, Netherlands
  • Jekyll Island, Honor Fraser, Culver City, Los Angeles, California, USA

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