Sofie Kjørum Austlid (b.1991, Hamar) lives and works in New York. Austlid completed her BFA in Photography from Valand Academy, Gothenburg in 2018. Solo exhibitions include Oslo Negativ/Galleri KÖSK, Oslo (2021) and King’s Leap, New York (2019). Her work has also been shown at Gallery SOIL, Seattle (2021), Galleri KÖSK, Oslo (2020), Center for Photography, Stockholm (2018) Galleri Thomassen, Gothenburg (2018) amongst others. Her work is held in the public collection Konstsamlingen, Gøteborgs Stad.
Einar Mølmann Fuglem (b. 1997, Oslo) is a Norwegian artist based in Oslo, Norway. Fuglem completed his BFA at Valand Academy in Gothenburg. Recent exhibitions include Fotogalleriet, Oslo (2022), Röda Sten Konsthall, Gothenburg (2022), Oslo Negativ, Oslo (2021), 1014 Gallery, London (2021) QB, Oslo (2019) amongst others.
Dev Dhunsi (b. 1996. Trondheim, Norway) lives and studies in Stockholm. Dev completed his BFA at Oslo National Academy of the Arts in 2022 and is now a Master candidate at Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm. His latest exhibitions is a solo at Fotografiens Hus (2021), Othership and Anothership, graduation exhibition at Kunstnernes Hus and KHiO (2022) and coming participations in group exhibitions at The National Sports Museum of Sweden (2022), Landskrona Foto Festival and Oslo Negativ (presented by Podium) (2022), at Storgata 26 in collaboration with Evrysome and Nasjonalmuseet (2022). Previously Dev published his first photo book “RAKAVAN” in 2019 with Forlaget Fotografi and is working on a new publication to be published soon.
Luna Lopez (b. 1996) is a Danish-born artist, currently living in Paris, France. Lopez completed her BFA at Valand Academy in Gothenburg in 2021 and graduated from Fatamorgana, the Danish School of Art Photography in 2015. Her work has been shown at Steinsland Berliner, Stockholm (2022), Röda Sten Konsthall, Gothenburg (2021), The Print Space, London (2019), Copenhagen Photo Festival, (2018) and been published in Icon – El Pais (2022), 94ids Magazine (2022), C-Print Journal (2021), L’Uomo Vogue (2019), Vice (2018), amongst others.
MELK is excited to present the group exhibition Illusive Illusions with works from Sofie Kjørum Austlid, Einar Mølmann Fuglem, Dev Dhunsi and Luna Lopez
For some MMA–fighters an «image» is a persona or an alter ego that is necessary to even step into the cage. For others, it’s a way to sell a fight. Some use it as a self-distancing tool that allows them to detach from the pain they are going to put on their opponent or themselves.
Influencers, companies, politicians, and even countries use different strategies to create public images that could benefit them in the future. At the same time, they are also portraying some truths. In one way or the other, all images contain a little bit of truth.
The «image makers» know that if you are exposed to pictures enough times they will sear themselves onto your brain and become an unconscious reality.
The image is the photograph’s big brother. It runs in the photograph’s DNA and it can not help but be affected by it. Still, the photograph has an edge over its elder: while an image is illusive, you can touch the photograph. It is right there.
But photographs can not operate on their own. They are connected to a platform or a sender. The photo of a person on Instagram is not the same as the photo on a magazine cover – although the picture is the same.
In Illusive Illusions, the photographs are connected to the photographer – their lives, marks, and history. The images are a result of this connection and the merge with you.
Sofie Kjørum Austlid is a Norwegian artist based in New York City. Having gone from being an outsider looking in, to becoming an inhabitant of the United States, Austlid’s curiosity has been rooted in community and closeness to her new surroundings.
Her photographs are a mix of foreign interactions between the artist and her subjects, made between periods of calm and conflict. The perceived notion of what America is, and what it has come to represent is a point of contention to Austlid.
Einar Mølmann Fuglem makes photographs that remind you of other photographs and situations you’ve experienced before. Fuglem lives and works in Oslo, but creates images that are separated from a geographical place. He operates in a fictitious world referencing the image bank of the spectator.
Dev Dhunsi is a Norwegian artist based in Stockholm, Sweden. He makes work from his journeys to his parent’s home country of India. Dhunsi’s images often deal with noise, distractions, and machinery that is happening outside the picture frame.
In Gestures, when led by a hair Dhunsi presents 36 portraits of a hearing impaired truck driver standing outside a factory. On the phone, he is communicating with his boss regarding issues with the cargo he’s collecting. Dhunsi observed him while he entered a factory and realized the great contrast between his quiet and affectual body language, to the unbearable noise outside.
Luna Lopez is a Danish-born artist, currently living in Paris, France. Lopez creates photographs that blur the line between documentary and fiction.
Lopez’ work revolves around sexuality, gender and desire, and explores the dynamics of intimacy and violence, calmness and aggressiveness, and the strength that exists within the vulnerable and embarrassing.
↓ Previous Shows
