LELLO//ARNELL


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Exhibitions - Works - Biography - Statement - News


Exhibitions

EPILOGUE

It is a rejection of reality, a journey into abandonment of rationale, logic and history


Epilogue is the Norwegian/Swedish artist duo LELLO//ARNELL’s first exhibition in Belgium.

The artistic practice of Jørgen Craig Lello & Tobias Arnell is heavily characterized by a continuous relationship between fiction and forgery. Basing their work on historical anecdotes, people, movements and objects, these foundations are regularly twisted, dissolved, mangled and deconstructed in order to figure into a separate or analogue narrative.

Such is also the case with Epilogue. The exhibition functions under a guise of third party involvement, as the works are presented as the results of events taking place in a parallel reality, set and directed by the artists. In this reality, historical, mythical and individual fact and fiction areinterchanged, diluted, enhanced and restructured, creating a skewed - even twisted - reckoning of reality.

A conceived protagonist and/or cast of protagonists are subjected to environments which aggravate and challenge their sanity. The resulting works are artifacts from this ordeal - samples which set a frame of mind, or mood, through which to interpret.








Works



...I found myself, depleted, on my hands and knees, sweat pouring, my head spinning. Beside me, a bottle of Sprite, horribly
mangled but intact. I slowly unscrewed it, took a large gulp and instantly vomited. I knew it would happen - I knew what I needed
to do: My Spirit Guide had foreseen all of this... (2011)
Fingerpainted chair, 81cm x 46,5cm x 55cm


Hercules Slaying the Hydra (2011)
Powder-coated steel and aluminium, 350cm x 300cm x 250cm


Reflections on Corporate Efficiency, the Modernist Movement and Human Evolution (After Congo the Chimpanzee) (2011)
Acrylic on canvas, 200cm x 266cm


Grid Variation #2 (2010)
Varnished cold-rolled steel, 160cm x 125cm


Biography

LELLO//ARNELL
Jørgen Craig Lello & Tobias Arnell
Born in Fredrikstad, Norway, 1978 & Lund, Sweden, 1978
Live and work in Oslo, Norway
Artistic expression: Sculpture

Education
2002-2006, National Academy of Fine Art, Oslo (Lello)
2001-2005, National Academy of Fine Art, Oslo (Arnell)

Selected solo exhibitions
2011 The Charlatan Mind, Galleri Erik Steen, Oslo
2010 Transmission, Galerie Susan Nielsen, Paris, France
2010 The New Ritual, Akershus Kunstsenter, Lillestrøm
2010 Undiscovering, Østfold Kunstnersenter, Fredrikstad
2009 Revision, Galleri 21, Malmö, Sweden
2008 Rediscovery, Galleri Erik Steen, Oslo
2007 Fiction & Forgery, Galleri Pictura, Lund, Sweden
2004 The Cargo Cult of Tobias Arnell & Jørgen Craig Lello, Galleri 21:26, Oslo

Selected group exhibitions
2011 Museum of Longing and Failure, Bergen
2009 28. Biennial of Graphic Art, MGLC, Ljubljana, Slovenia (catalog)
2009 Rock-Paper-Scissors, Galerie Susan Nielsen, Paris, France
2008 Mutual: On Collaboration, Samson Projects, Boston MA, USA
2008 X International Call, Luis Adelantado Gallery, Valencia, Spain
2008 Lights On - norsk samtidskunst, Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, Oslo (catalog)
2008 Rykk Tilbake til Start, 0047 OSLO, Oslo
2006 Norwegian Sculpture Biennial, Vigeland Museum, Oslo (catalog)

Selected grants
2011 Arts Council Norway, Project Support
2011 Bildende Kunstneres Hjelpefond, 1-year working grant
2010 Bildende Kunstneres Hjelpefond, 1-year working grant
2009 Bildende Kunstneres Hjelpefond, 1-year working grant
2009 Ingrid Lindbäck Langaard's Foundation
2007 Statens Kunstnerstipend, 2-year working grant
2007 Ingrid Lindbäck Langaard's Foundation
2006 Statens Kunstnerstipend, Establishing grant

Public collections
Statoil Art Collection, Stavanger
Sørlandet Art Museum, Kristiansand
International Centre of Graphic Arts (MGLC), Ljubljana, Slovenia
Astrup Fearnley Collection, Oslo
Collection Region Skåne, Skåne, Sweden

Public commissions
2011 INSPIRIA Science Center, Sarpsborg
2010 Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI), Lillestrøm


Statement


Jørgen Craig Lello & Tobias Arnell have collaborated since 2003 and utilize logically broken trains of thought, false statements and fictional scenarios in their examination of how the world is interpreted and understood.

They primarily work with sculpture, though it often bleeds into photography, collage and imageworks. Visually, the pieces hold a resigned trash- and DIY-aesthetic, with pretensions of slickness. Though the works are fundamentally idea-based, they are saturated with a strong, underlying material and sculptural disposition.

Their work questions basic social structures and methods, and their validity. By using historical
documents, symbols and events, a wide range of interconnected concepts are subjected to a deconstructive process which emanates in a skewed perception of «the big picture».

The main theme in the works is the way the topics have been treated, which constructs an interpretation that feels complete, though invalid, or even preposterous.


News