Torbjørn Rødland (b. 1970, Stavanger, Norway) makes photographic images that pointedly address their viewers, evoking a wide range of emotional and intellectual states. Curiosity, humor, criticality, artifice, reverence for the natural world, and romanticism appear throughout his work and often in the same image. Rødland also emphasizes the formal attributes of his photographs, pushing the medium toward modes of visual expression more commonly associated with painting, and forging links between 20th century art photography and 21st century approaches to image-making common to advertising and social media. Often prompted by non-photographic imagery that he transforms into real-world photographic subjects, Rødland portrays scenes designed to generate psychological reaction through his depiction of highly sensory qualities. The physicality present in the work is driven by his use of film-based cameras and chemical darkroom processes.
In 2021, Torbjørn Rødland will be the subject of a solo exhibition at The Contemporary Austin. Rødland has been the subject of many institutional exhibitions, including Fifth Honeymoon, a traveling exhibition produced by Bergen Kunsthall, Bergen, Norway; Bonniers Konsthall, Stockholm; and the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, Helsinki (2018-2019). A selection of Rødland’s solo exhibitions include Fondazione Prada, Milan (2018); Serpentine Sackler Gallery (2017); C/O Berlin (2017); Kunsthall Stavanger, Norway (2014); Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, Japan (2010); P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, Long Island City, New York (2006); and Stavanger Kunstmuseum, Stavanger, Norway (2003). His work is in the permanent collections of museums that include Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York; Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, Oslo; Malmö Art Museum, Sweden; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Museum of Modern Art, New York; and Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Rødland lives and works in Los Angeles.
Torbjørn Rødland
The Song of the Wind and the Trees, 2016 - 2018
chromogenic print
55 1/8 x 43 3/8 inches
(140 x 110 cm)
Edition of 3, with 1 AP
Torbjørn Rødland
Candles and Cubes, 2016
chromogenic print
23 5/8 x 30 inches
(60 x 76.2 cm)
Edition of 3, with 1 AP
Torbjørn Rødland
Narrative Stasis (Studio 798), 2008 - 2016
chromogenic print
55 1/16 x 43 3/8 inches
(139.9 x 110.2 cm)
Edition of 3, with 1 AP
Torbjørn Rødland
Red Pump, 2014 - 2015
chromogenic print
29 15/16 x 23 5/8 inches
(76 x 60 cm)
Edition of 3, with 1 AP
Torbjørn Rødland
This is My Body, 2013 - 2015
chromogenic print
23 5/8 x 29 7/8 inches
(60 x 76 cm)
Edition of 3, with 1 AP
Torbjørn Rødland
Five Tears, 2014
silver gelatin print
22 1/2 x 17 3/4 inches
(57.2 x 45.1 cm)
Edition of 3, with 1 AP
Torbjørn Rødland
Avocado, 2013
chromogenic print
23 5/8 x 30 inches
(60 x 76.2 cm)
Edition of 3, with 1 AP
Torbjørn Rødland
Hands and Eyes. Portrait no.1, 2008 - 2010
chromogenic print
22 1/2 x 17 3/4 inches
(57 x 45 cm)
Edition of 3, with 1 AP
Torbjørn Rødland
132 BPM, 2005
single channel color video with sound
13 minutes
Edition of 6
Torbjørn Rødland
Frost no.4, 2001
chromogenic print
17 3/4 x 22 1/2 inches
(45.1 x 57.2 cm)
Edition of 5, with 1 AP
Torbjørn Rødland
Nudist No. 6, 1999
chromogenic print
15 3/4 x 19 5/8 inches
(40 x 50 cm)
Edition of 10
Torbjørn Rødland
In a Norwegian Landscape 18, 1995
chromogenic print
20 1/2 x 26 3/8 inches
(52.1 x 67 cm)
Edition of 3, with 1 AP