Gunn Harbitz
Fundert i stein (Grounded in Stone)
Overlyssalen
22.02.24 — 07.04.24

Fundert i stein (Grounded in stone) is a showcase of sculptor Gunn Harbitz’s latest work, where she presents stone sculptures that encourage interaction through touch. This is how she approaches site-specific outdoor projects, and the same method is applied when transitioning into the gallery space. Harbitz works with shifting landscapes and tactile rocks, describing stone as an elastic, rather than a fully controllable, material.

The sculptures are mobile forms that bend towards the floor – dark syenite faces the bright marble of Overlyssalen. The audience can touch, move under, over, and through, and most importantly, lean against the tactile and soft stones. ‘When the sculptures bend down, I want to sit on the floor with their silky smooth surface against my back’, encourages the artist.

Harbitz is also presenting a series of wall-mounted stone reliefs where the imprint of time is reflected in the surface of the rock. She has given them titles in Latin, which are perceived as a trace back to something original. Where did the writing and words originate? A far more recent origin than the rocks.

A smaller sized rock has found its way onto a shelf. Harbitz wants to convey spatially how she handles the stone – from pieces weighing just a few kilograms to sculptures weighing a ton. The artist seeks to achieve lightness in expression. The space between the hefty stone and the surrounding air creates a tension, giving an impression of suspension – the counterforce of gravity.

For Harbitz, maintaining stone craftsmanship in Norway is of great importance, a craft that one is fighting to preserve.

To read more, refer to the text ‘Poetiske manifestasjoner i stein’ (Poetic manifestations in stone), written by Marit K. Flåtter for the exhibition catalogue.

Gunn Harbitz (b. 1958) works with site-specific art projects where stone is the main material. The sculptures borrow forms from nature and can be described as shifts between nature and culture, contrasting processed surfaces with untreated materials. Over the past 40 years, Harbitz has completed a number of public art commissions. Alger, sneller, calamitter (Algae, reels, calamites) (1992) in Steigen was the first decorated rest stop in Norway and a precursor to the Norwegian Scenic Routes. Harbitz received her education from Vestlandets kunstakademi (1977–82), the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, Poland (1983), and her training in stonework at Johansen Monumenthuggeri (1985), where she also resided for several years. She has had solo exhibitions at Dropsfabrikken (2022), Galleri Adde Zetterquist (2014), Kunstnerforbundet (2004), and at the Nordenfjeldske Kunstindustrimuseum (1997), among other places. Harbitz is a member of Norsk Billedhoggerforening.