Oh my God!

The significance of religion in our lives was the theme of 2007’s main exhibition, OH MY GOD!.

Excerpt from curator Göran Greens text for the catalogue:

“Oh my God… Oh my God!…” the woman exclaimed as she saw the huge Boeing plane crash into the World Trade Center on 9/11. Faced with the terrible and nightmare-like events she was witnessing, the woman invoked God. I don’t know wheather or not she actually believed in him. The hijackers, on the other hand, were deeply religious Muslims. “God is great!” were probably their final words. God is invoked by both sides, and confronted with the incomprehensible many people turn to him. (p. 11)

The exhibition aimed to inspire people to reflect on and ask questions about issues such as faith and doubt, freedom and responsibility, tradition and change.

The concept for the exhibition was to invite selected persons from the art field – including collectors, critics, and gallery directors – to choose one artwork relevant to the title of the show. Additional artists were also invited by curator Göran Green, bringing the total number up to 43. It was first and foremost contemporary art, but the range of works stretched back in time to 1858.

The people invited, (and the artist they chose): Eija Aarnio (Markus Kåhre), Sofie Berntsen (own work), Ernst Billgren (Bruno Knutman), Christian Bjelland (Leonard Rickhard , Per Inge Bjørlo, Bjarne Melgaard), Sverre Koren Bjertnæs (own work), Maj-Britt Boa (own work), Per Brunskog (Tarmo Paunu), Göran Christenson (Annika Larsson), Lars Elton (Josephine Lyche), Harald Flor (Torsten Renqvist), Göran Green (Henry Wuorila-Stenberg, Steingrímur Eyfjörd, Mette Hansen), Nicolas Hansson (Peter Johansson), Jack Helgesen (Vik Muniz, Marcus Draper), Karin Hellandsjø ( Wladyslaw Hasior), Rolf A. Hoff (Andres Serrano, Sigalit Landau), Svein Olav Hoff (Frans Widerberg), Magnus Jensner (Marcus Larsson), Erling Kagge (Kirsten Pieroth), Thomas Kvam (eget verk), Pontus Kyander (Per Wizén, Truls Melin), Conny C-A Malmqvist (Jes Brinch, Lars Vilks), Frank Mosvold (Steven Shearer), Frode Gundorf Nilsen (eget verk), Michael O’Donnel (Henrik Plenge Jacobsen and own work), Sten Are Sandbeck (own work), Lotte Sandberg (Harald Sohlberg), Björn Springfeldt (Ulf Rahmberg), Vibeke Tandberg (eget verk), Åsmund Torkilsen (Cindy Sherman, Henrik Sørensen), Jukka Vikberg (Kaarina Kaikkonen), Morten Viskum (Kristian Øverland Dahl), Barbro Werkmäster (Gunilla Paetau Sjöberg), Daniel Werkmäster (Olov Tällström).

Participating artists

• Sofie Berntsen
• Sverre Bjertnæs
• Per Inge Bjørlo
• Maj-Britt Boa
• Jes Brinch
• Kristian Øverland Dahl
• Markus Draper
• Steingrímur Eyfjörd
• Mette Hansen
• Wladyslaw Hasior
• Henrik Plenge Jakobsen
• Peter Johansson
• Kaarina Kaikkonen
• Bruno Knutman
• Thomas Kvam
• Markus Kåhre
• Sigalit Landau
• Annika Larsson
• Marcus Larsson
• Josefine Lyche
• Bjarne Melgaard
• Truls Melin
• Vik Muniz
• Frode Gundorf Nielsen
• Michael O’Donnell
• Tarmo Paunu
• Kirsten Pieroth
• Ulf Rahmberg
• Torsten Renqvist
• Leonard Rickhard
• Sten Are Sandbeck
• Andres Serrano
• Steven Shearer
• Cindy Sherman
• Gunilla Paetau Sjöberg
• Harald Sohlberg
• Henrik Sørensen
• Vibeke Tandberg
• Olov Tällström
• Lars Vilks
• Frans Widerberg
• Per Wizén
• Henry Wuorila-Stenberg