Lot 11 , Kjell Torriset, (b.1950), Before and After History, 2019, ink-jet print on Hahnemuhle paper, 67 x 50 cm.

Kjell Torriset
(b.1950)
Before and After History, 2019
ink-jet print on Hahnemuhle paper
from an edition of 6, signed and numbered
67 x 50 cm.
£2,500-3,500
Kjell Torriset is a painter and printmaker renowned for his poetic visual language. His complex works depict an enigmatic dialogue with the past, and often fluctuate between abstraction and figuration, proposing new values for familiar symbols.

Critic and scholar Tore Rem writes: “Kjell Torriset creates works that are unruly, resistant, strange, constructed. They are made up of fragments, reminiscences, diverse languages and temporalities. He has described his creative process in this way: ‘I start with an idea, make an initial stroke, and from then on in it’s all repair work, until I see that things have fallen into place and the work has acquired meaning.’”

Although typically hailed as a leading Norwegian artist, Kjell Torriset has been living and working in Sussex for more than 30 years and has exhibited widely in the UK and Europe. Earlier this year, Galleri Brandstrup, Oslo, presented Kjell Torriset: Sense of Place.

Born in Ålesund, Norway, Torriset’s career is international. He studied at St Martin’s School of Art, London, in Brighton and at the Statens Kunstakademi, Oslo, before taking up residencies in Scotland and Italy. He has had solo exhibitions in Norway, UK, Sweden and Germany.

Oslo University Library and other Norwegian institutions have commissioned large-scale works by Torriset. He is represented in public collections including the British Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art and the National Gallery of Norway, the Astrup Fearnley Museum, the Norwegian Arts Council, Haugar Vestfold Art Museum and the Oslo Municipal Collection.