Curriculum vitae
LELLO//ARNELL
Jørgen Craig Lello & Tobias Arnell
Born in Fredrikstad, Norway, 1978 & Lund, Sweden, 1978
Live and work in Oslo, Norway
Current & upcoming exhibitions
2013 Living With More Art, Galerie Reinhard Hauff, Stuttgart
2013 Group exhibition, Platform Stockholm, Stockholm
2013 Solo exhibition, Jozsa Gallery, Brussels
2013 Solo exhibition, House of Foundation, Moss
Selected solo exhibitions
2012 Parallel Self, TM51, Oslo
2012 Echo Chamber, Beers.Lambert Contemporary, London
2011 The Lurker at the Threshold, Gallery USF, Bergen
2011 Epilogue, Jozsa Gallery, Brussels, Belgium
2011 The Charlatan Mind, Galleri Erik Steen, Oslo
2010 Transmission, Galerie Susan Nielsen, Paris, France
2010 LELLO//ARNELL, Aalesund kunstforening, Ålesund
2010 The New Ritual, Akershus Kunstsenter, Lillestrøm
2010 Undiscovering, Østfold Kunstnersenter, Fredrikstad
2009 The Great Migration, Christianssands Kunstforening, Kristiansand
2009 Reproduction, Vestfold Kunstnersenter, Tønsberg
2009 Revision, Galleri 21, Malmö, Sweden
2008 Rediscovery, Galleri Erik Steen, Oslo
2007 Galleri Pictura, Lund, Sweden
2007 Fiction & Forgery, Heimdal kunstforening, Trondheim
2005 Team Mirage, Galleri 21:24, Oslo
2004 The Cargo Cult of Tobias Arnell & Jørgen Craig Lello, Galleri 21:26, Oslo
Selected group exhibitions
2012 To Be With Art Is All We Ask, Astrup Fearnley Museum, Oslo
2012 Die Nacht ist in den Tag verlieb, Mario Mauroner Contemporary Art Vienna, Vienna
2012 5..., Jozsa Gallery, Brussels
2012 Diamonds are forever, Galleri Erik Steen, Oslo
2011 Norwegian Sculpture Biennial, The Vigeland Museum, Oslo
2011 Acting on a Tip, Grünerløkka Kunsthall, Oslo
2011 Figures and Narratives - Work from the Astrup Fearnley Collection, Sogn Kunstsenter, Lærdalsøyri
2011 Their work is fabulous, Galleri Erik Steen, Oslo
2011 Group exhibition, Museum of Longing and Failure, Bergen
2010 Kunstbasseng, Galleri Tipi, Oslo
2009 28. Biennial of Graphic Art, MGLC, Ljubljana, Slovenia (catalog)
2009 Kalender2009, Snowball Editions
2009 #1, Oslo Open, Grünerløkka Kunsthall, Oslo
2009 New Works, Galleri Erik Steen, Oslo
2009 Dark Matters, Peder Balke Center, Toten
2009 Rock-Paper-Scissors, Galerie Susan Nielsen, Paris, France
2009 Guttestrekar?, Hå Gamle Prestegård, Hå (catalog)
2009 Kalender2008, Lautom Contemporary, Oslo
2008 Mutual: On Collaboration, Samson Projects, Boston MA, USA
2008 Planka #4, Galleri Planka, Oslo
2008 X International Call, Luis Adelantado Gallery, Valencia, Spain
2008 Kalender 2008, Snowball Editions / Torpedo, Oslo
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 2006, Vigeland Museum, Oslo (catalog)
Selected bibliography
2012 "Tingenes utholdelige letthet" ("The Bearable Lightness of Things"), Kunstforum, Oslo
2012 "Picture preview", The Independent, London, UK
2011 "Ombres noires sur blanc" ("Black shadows on white"), L’echo, Brussels, Belgium
2011 "It’s an art day..."s, La Libre Belgique, Brussels, Belgium
2011 "Mentalt forfall" ("Mental decay"), Klassekampen, Oslo
2009 "Once Upon a Chair", Die Gestalten Verlag, Berlin, Germany
2009 "Øvelser i nyromantikk" ("Exercises in new romanticism"), Billedkunst
2009 "Svartvit vila för ögonen" ("Black and white rest for the eyes"), Sydsvenskan
2009 "Unge kunstnergamliser" ("Young artist old-boys"), D2 Magazine / Dagens Næringsliv
2009 "50 ting vi tror på i 2009" ("50 things we believe in for 2009"), Dagbladet
2008 "Ung, norsk og internasjonal" ("Young, Norwegian and International"), Dagsavisen
Grants
2012 Billedkunstnernes vederlagsfond, Artist grant
2011 Billedkunstnernes vederlagsfond, Project support
2011 Bildende Kunstneres Hjelpefond, 1-year working grant
2011 Billedkunstnernes vederlagsfond, Project support
2011 Arts Council Norway, Exhibition support
2010 Bildende Kunstneres Hjelpefond, 1-year working grant
2009 Arts Council Norway, Project support
2009 Billedkunstnernes Vederlagsfond, Project support
2009 Bildende Kunstneres Hjelpefond, 1-year working grant
2009 Arts Council Norway, Project support
2009 Arts Council Norway, Exhibition support for establishing artists
2009 Ingrid Lindbäck Langaard's Foundation
2008 Billedkunstnernes vederlagsfond
2008 Statens Utstillingsstipend
2007 Statens Kunstnerstipend, 2-year working grant
2007 Ingrid Lindbäck Langaard's Foundation
2006 Statens Kunstnerstipend, Establishing grant
Public collections
Statoil Art Collection
Sørlandet Art Museum, Kristiansand
International Centre of Graphic Arts (MGLC), Ljubljana, Slovenia
Astrup Fearnley Collection, Oslo
Collection Region Skåne, Skåne, Sweden
Public commissions
2013 University of Oslo, Oslo
2012 Norwegian School of Economics, Bergen
2011 INSPIRIA Science Center, Sarpsborg
2010 Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI), Lillestrøm
About LELLO//ARNELL
Jørgen Craig Lello & Tobias Arnell have collaborated since 2003 and utilize logically broken lines 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 image-works. 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.