Bjarne Melgaard

Bjarne Melgaard doesn't give a damn about political correctness. The New York-based Norwegian artist has eschewed societal norms since the beginning of his decades-long career, creating works with violent and sexually explicit overtones. While he has since toned down his viscerally confrontational works, tending more toward loose and colorful expressionist paintings, Melgaard often completely transforms the sites in which he exhibits, on both an aesthetic and fundamental level, changing not only the wallpaper, but turning them into white tiger playpens or sites for sleeping. As a novelist, painter, and video artist, Melgaard deftly eludes rote art world classifications, bringing his defiant sense of profane humor with him to every new project.


Bjarne Melgaard has shown his work in exhibitions around the world including at the 5th Biennale de Lyon in 2000, the Palais de Tokyo in Paris in 2006, and London's Institute of Contemporary Art in 2012.

SHOWS

Articles

Red Bull Arts's Max Wolf on Branded Alternatives to the Gallery
Red Bull Arts's Max Wolf on Branded Alternatives to the Gallery
10 of the Best Artworks at Frieze London 2016
10 of the Best Artworks at Frieze London 2016
7 Art Scene Dogs to Follow on Instagram
7 Art Scene Dogs to Follow on Instagram
10 Nordic Artists You Need to Know
10 Nordic Artists You Need to Know
Why Won’t Artists Leave Animals Alone?
Why Won’t Artists Leave Animals Alone?
The Secret Alter Egos of the Art World
The Secret Alter Egos of the Art World
How CPLY Brought Surrealism to Hollywood
How CPLY Brought Surrealism to Hollywood
The Most Spectacular Art in the Whitney Biennial
The Most Spectacular Art in the Whitney Biennial
The Wild and Wicked Art of Bjarne Melgaard
The Wild and Wicked Art of Bjarne Melgaard