Siri Hjorth & Sebastian Makonnen Kjølaas
Mord i parapsykisk selskap
An alternative, speculative, esoteric murder mystery.

The Window Room and the Cabinet
11.08. – 11.09.2022

In the exhibition Mord i parapsykisk selskap, Hjorth & Kjølaas present a fictive murder mystery about the artist Emanuel Vigeland (1875–1948) by way of a series of drawings and original works loaned from the Emanuel Vigeland Foundation.

In 1899, Emanuel Vigeland arrives at Atelier Cormon in Paris, where he meets the artists Valborg Kristine Madsen and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. After a murder takes place in Parc Monceau, the trio embarks on a parapsychological journey.

The murder mystery is based on the artist’s biography, but doesn’t let bothersome factual events get in the way of a good story.

Siri Hjorth (b. 1986, Trondheim) and Sebastian Makonnen Kjølaas (b. 1985, Oslo) studied at Oslo National Academy of the Arts and work in drawing, sculpture, and performance. Since 2009, they have worked closely on a number of artistic projects, also marrying in the Emanuel Vigeland Mausoleum in 2016. Their work has been shown in the National Museum, Oslo (2022), Henie Onstad Kunstsenter (2021), Ekeberg Sculpture Park (2020), Kunsthall Oslo (2020), Kunstnernes Hus (2020), The Bauhaus Museum, Dessau (2019), and Fondazione Prada, Venezia (2018). In 2021, the artist duo had a recidency at Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris. Hjorth and Kjølaas live and work in Oslo.

Emanuel Vigeland (1875–1948, Halse) was a Norwegian artist who worked mainly in frescos and stained glass. Studying at The Royal Drawing School of Kristiania (now part of Oslo National Academy of the Arts), under Peder Severin Krøyer at Kunstnernes Frie Kunstskoler (The Artists’ Free Art Schools), and at Atelier Cormon in Paris. A long series of public commissions for church buildings made him known outside of Scandinavia. The artist’s mausoleum at Slemdal, Tomba Emanuelle, remains his most significant work. With a distinctive position in Norwegian art history, Vigeland’s erotic vitalism circled around life’s great themes, like creation, death, and love. He was married to artist Valborg Kristine Madsen.

The exhibition is supported by Arts Council Norway, Billedkunstnernes Vederlagsfond (Norwegian Visual Artists’ Fund), Oslo City Council, and Art Centres in Norway, with generous loans from the Emanuel Vigeland Foundation and metalwork design by Merete Nilsen Bua.