IDA EKBLAD

Ida Ekblad’s (b. 1980) artistic practice incorporates painting, sculpture, performance, filmmaking as well as poetry. Her works transmit a distinct vibrancy and spontaneity, created through the energetic movement of her compositions, the bold application of colour and the attentive use of found materials. Ekblad's expressive paintings often depict winding and twisted lines, some indicate human-like figures, others resemble landscapes. The forms and gestures found in her work derive from a wide variety of inspirations and art historical references, such as CoBrA, Situationism and Abstract Expressionism but also pop cultural aesthetics like graffiti or cartoon that indicate Ekblad’s genre-crossing approach.
‘At the heart of this work is an energy, one that is palpably manifest in her finished images and objects. It is explicit in the manual strength required to construct one of her sculptures or to scramble up a scrapheap, yet also implicit in the movement, form and scale of her painting. Ekblad’s work is formed of contradiction; that of the social and the solitary, the physical and the contemplative. In Ekblad’s work, these similarities and differences are held in a delicate balance.’
S. McCrory, ‘Ida Ekblad’, in Ida Ekblad: Poem Percussion, exh. cat., Bergen: Bergen Kunsthalle, 2010, p. 27
Image: EVANESCERE - ESVANIR - ESVANISS, 2022, oil on linen, in artist’s frame, 183.2 x 143.2 x 5.5 cm.; 72 1/8 x 56 3/8 x 2 1/8 in. Photo: def image
Selected Works
Solo Exhibitions
Group Exhibitions
Selected Institutional Exhibitions
Biography
VITA
1980
Born in Oslo, Norway
2001
Central St. Martins College of Art, department of Fine Art, London
2007
Graduated at The National Academy of Art, Oslo
2008
Mountain School of Arts, Los Angeles
2009
Nominee for Statoil Art Award, Oslo
2020
Nominee for Kunstkritikerprisen, Oslo
Lives and works in Oslo, Norway
SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Aïshti Foundation, Beirut
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, Oslo
British Museum, London
Buffalo AKG Art Museum
Centre Pompidou, Paris
Christen Sveaas Art Foundation, Oslo
Collection Center for Curational Studies, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson
Contemporary Art Society, London
Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris
Hammer Museum, Los Angeles
Hessel Museum of Art, Annandale-on-Hudson
KODE Art Museums and Composer Homes, Bergen
Kistefos Museum, Jevnaker
Kunsthaus Zürich
Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humblebæk
Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zurich
Moderna Museet, Stockholm
Museo Rufino Tamayo, Mexico City
National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, Oslo
Preus Museum, Horten
Rubell Family Collection, Miami
Saastamoinen Foundation, Helsinki
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024
ACTIVATED SLUDGE
Peder Lund, Oslo
STRANGE FREEDOMS
Galerie Max Hetzler, Paris
2023
STRANGE FREEDOMS SHALL BE SOUGHT
KODE Art Museum, Bergen
2022
FLYABLE, RIDEABLE
Karma International, Zurich
WE WERE PATIENT
Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin
Gold Bug Drift Sculpture (Tepito and Ecatepec), Amor, 2019
Galerie Max Hetzler, Window Gallery, Berlin
2021
GIRL FIRES UP STOVE
Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo (catalogue)
2020
SLICE OF THE INACCESSIBLE
Peder Lund, Oslo
A DEEP MEDICINE
Galerie Max Hetzler, Paris
2019
FRA ÅRE TIL OVN
Kunsthalle Zürich
BLOOD OPTICS
Museo Tamayo, Mexico City
The Accountants, 2019
Galerie Max Hetzler, Window Gallery, Berlin
2018
Leda Bourgogne | Ida Ekblad
Kunstverein Braunschweig
I’m four years old
Freedman Fitzpatrick hosted by XYZ Collective, Tokyo
2017
Proper Stuff
Herald St, London
Step Motherfucker, 2017
Galerie Max Hetzler, Window Gallery, Berlin
Step Motherfucker
Galerie Max Hetzler, Paris
Diary of a Madam
Kunsthaus Hamburg, Hamburg
2015
Madam is fucking Madame, Sir
Karma International, Los Angeles
BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead
Galerie Max Hetzler, Window Gallery, Berlin
RELOAD
Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin
2014
Greene Naftali, New York
A day of toil among its ruins
Herald St., London (catalogue)
A gentle looking little alien of sorts
Herald St., London
2013
National Museum of Norway - Museum of Contemporary Art, Oslo
Revolution
Kunstmuseum Luzern, Luzern
The Root cellar
De Vleeshal, Middelburg, Netherlands
Days Disguise
Karma International, Zurich
2011
Low tide bring da ruckus
West London Projects, London
Gatekeeper Butterfly
Greene Naftali, New York
2010
Poem Percussion
Bergen Kunsthall, Bergen
Digging. Treasure.
Bonniers Konsthall, Stockholm
A clothespin left behind on a line
Herald Street, London
Entschlafen zum Hafen Glück und Leid Vergangenheit
Giti Nourbakhsch, Berlin
2009
Project Room, Wiels, Brussels
Frame
Gaudel De Stampa, Frieze Art Fair, London
That Leaf / That Mushroom / That Palm Tree
Karma International, Zurich (with Tobias Madison)
Salty Sap Green Black
The Journal Gallery, New York
Art since the summer of 69, New York
What leaf? What mushroom?
New Jerseyy, Basel
A Woman under the influence
Galleri Annen Etage, Oslo
In exile from the mineral kingdom
Galleria Alessandro de March, Milan
Febermalerier
Gaudel de Stampa, Paris
2008
Silver ruins
Fotogalleriet, Oslo
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025
On Paper
Galerie Max Hetzler, London
2024
The Best, The Rest, and The Unexpected Guest
Bechtler Stiftung, Uster
Ida Ekblad, Shuang Li, Vivian Suter
Karma International, Zurich
Instinctive Gestures
Galerie Max Hetzler, London
On Paper
Galerie Max Hetzler, Paris
ReCollect! Part Two
Kunsthaus Zürich
2023
Houses of Tove Jansson
8 Impasse de Mont-Louis, Paris
Baroque
Galerie Champ Lacombe, Biarritz
All Crescendo, No Reward
Zabludowicz Collection, London
ReCollect!
Kunsthaus Zürich
Before Tomorrow – Astrup Fearnley Museet 30 Years
Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, Oslo
das gelbe Licht 6 Uhr nachmittags
Remembering, envisioning, sensing landscape, curated by Christian Malycha
Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin
La morsure des termites
Palais de Tokyo, Paris
ARTZUID 2023, Amsterdam
Surface Works
Galerie Max Hetzler, London
Course of Works
Hangar Y, Meudon
2022
Frieze Sculpture, London
Christen Sveaas Art Foundation. The Travel Bureau, selected by Paulina Olowska
Whitechapel Gallery, London
New Acquisitions
Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humblebæk
2021
Nous irons tous au paradis
Frac Normandie Caen
Reconstruction
Karma International, Zurich
Three Works: Ida Ekblad / Jessi Reaves / Diane Simpson
Herald St, London
PRIMA-VERA
Baxter-Hodiak House, Los Angeles
2020
Via dell’Inferno
Herald St at Galleria Spazia, Bologna
Geneva Biennale
Geneva
Karma International, Zurich
(Nothing but) Flowers
Karma, New York
Karma International, Zurich
Galerie Max Hetzler, London
A Collection in the Making. Art – Architecture – Design
The National Museum – Architecture, Oslo
BED AND CLOCK, MOON AND BEACH: Edvard Munch
Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin
2019
FIAC Hors les Murs, Tuileries Garden, Paris
Concoction of Confusion
Golsa, Oslo
Private Passion
Astrup Fearnley Museet, Oslo
2018
Use Your Illusion
Herald St, London
L' Esprit souterrain / Underground Spirit
Domaine Pomméry, Reims
C.R. McBerny
Zwinglisalon, Berlin
NGORONGORO II
artist weekend, Berlin
Faithless Pictures
National Museum, Oslo
The Weather Outside
Freedman Fitzpatrick, Paris
FIAC Hors les Murs
Jardin des Tuileries, Paris
2017
Transitions: Translantic Treatments
Rod Bianco, Oslo
Adult Swim
Pilar Corrias Gallery, London
Steps to Aeration
Tanya Leighton, Berlin
Close Up: The Rocca Foundation Dresden / Berlin
Galerie Gebr. Lehmann, Dresden
University of Disaster
57th Venice Biennale, National Pavilion Bosnia & Herzegovina, Palazzo Malipiero, Venice
Hot Mess
Karma International, Los Angeles
Absent Bodies
OSL Contemporary, Oslo
PAINTING |OR| NOT
KAVIAR FACTORY, Henningsvær
Karma International, Zurich
Trip of the Tongue
Simon Lee Gallery, Hong Kong
2016
Le jour du vin et des roses
FRAC Normandie, Les Bains-Douches, Alençon
la mia ceramica
Galerie Max Hetzler, Paris
WHAT'S MY NAME
Michel Majerus Estate, Berlin
Going Public: The Napoleone Collection
Graves Gallery, Sheffield
An Increasingly Desperate Man
Alter Space, San Francisco
above the ART ic circle
KAVIAR FACTORY, Henningsvær
PAPER IN PRACTICE
Moran Bondaroff, Los Angeles
For Pete’s Sake
Carl Kostyal, Stockholm
2015
The World is Made of Stories
Astrup Fearnley Museum, Oslo
Karma International, Zurich
NO MAN'S LAND - Women artists from the Rubell Family Collection
Rubell Family Collection, Miami
Conditional Present
Mier Gallery, Los Angeles
Mortel Suite et Fin - Collection Frac Basse-Normandie
Frac Basse-Normandie, Caen
Works on Paper
Greene Naftali Gallery, New York
Raw and Delirious
Kunsthalle Bern
Sprayed
Gagosian Gallery, London
Poor Art - Rich Legacy. Arte Povera and parallel practices 1968-2015
National Museum of Norway - Museum of Contemporary Art, Oslo
Call and Response
Gavin Brown's Enterprise, New York
NN-A NN-A NN-A
Astrup Fearnley Museet for Moderne Kunst, Oslo, travelled to:
Museum Stavanger, 2016
2014
Unshelling and Shelling again
Kunsthall Stavanger, Stavanger
PLUGGS
Karma International, Zurich
REFRACTION. THE IMAGE OF SENSE
Blain Southern, London
read the room/you’ve got to
SALTS, Birsfelden
Des Pas Dans L´escalier
FRAC - Basse-Normandie, Caen
Spirit
Peres Projects, Berlin
Shattered Preface
OSL Contemporary, Oslo
Life
The Journal Gallery at Venus Over Manhattan, New York
Entrouvert
Gaudel de Stampa, Paris
El Rey De Icod
Tenerife Espacio de las Artes, Santa Cruz, Tenerife
This is our Art This is our Music
David Risley Gallery, Copenhagen
Home Again, Home Again II
The Journal Gallery, New York
2013
IM & EX PLICIT
Galerie Tatjana Pieters, Ghent
Revolution: John Chamberlain, Ida Ekblad, Christina Streuli
Kunstmuseum Luzern, Lucerne
Champs Elysées, Nouvelles Vagues
Palais de Tokyo, Paris
Alt du kan bære, VI, VII, Oslo
Pioneer Voices
Galleri Nord-Norge, Harstad
An Artist Collecting Art
Vestfossen Kunstlaboratorium, Vestfossen
2012
Friends, Countrymen
Gaudel de Stampa, Paris
To Be with Art Is All We Ask
Astrup Fearnley Museum, Oslo
Steel Life
Michael Benevento, Los Angeles
Standard Operating Procedures
Blum and Poe, Los Angeles
Modern Talking
Muzeul de Arta Cluj-Napoca, Cluj
Manufacture
Centre Pasquart, Biel
Crime is on both sides
Galeria Stereo, Poznan
Collectors´ Choice: Selected Pieces for Sale
Galerie Asbaek, Copenhagen
2011
ILLUMInazioni
54th Venice Biennale, Venice
Manufacture
Parc Saint-Léger – Centre d’art contemporain, Pougues-les-Eaux
Four Rooms
Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw
Host City
Kunstverein Wolfsburg, Wolfsburg
Gesamtkunstwerk: New Art From Germany
Saatchi Gallery, London
5th Prague Biennale, Prague
The Garden of Forking Paths
Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zurich
Hysteria, Laughter, and a Sense of Seriousness
Karma International, Zurich
You don’t love me anymore
Westfälischer Kunstverein, Munster
Figurer og fortellinger
Astrup Faernley Museum, Oslo
2010
At Home
Giti Nourbakhsch, Berlin
Pastiche… When a tree falls in the forest
Sølyst Artist Residence Center, Jyderup
Les sculptures meurent aussi
La Kunsthalle, Mulhouse
Fade Into You
Herald Street, London
Anonymous Materials
Binz, Zurich
The Pursuer
Greene Naftali, New York
Berlin Box
CCA Andratx, Mallorca
Fortescue Avenue, London
Ekblad, Karstiess
Nymphius Projekte, Berlin
2009
The Gold Bug Drift
Kunstnerforbundet, Oslo
Europäisch-Amerikanische Freundschaft: Ida Ekblad, David Hominal, Alistair Frost
Gavin Brown’s Enterprise, New York
Favored Nations: Momentum
5th Nordic Biennial of Contemporary Art, Moss
Bad Moon Rising
Galerie sans titre, Brussels
Problem Solving: Express Yourself
Uplands Gallery, Melbourne
Younger Than Jesus
New Museum, New York
Prose pour des Esseintes
Karma International, Zurich
That Leaf, That Mushroom
Karma International, Zurich
GRAVE ACCENT
Gaudel De Stampa, Paris;
Galerie Micky Schubert, Berlin
Dark Fair
Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne
O´Radical Modern Way of Life
Annen Etage, Oslo
Ab-strac-tion-al
MUSEUM 52, NEW YORK
All The Girls Standing In The Line For The Bathroom
Artnews Projects, Berlin
Statoil Art Award Nomination Exhibition
Gallery for Contemporary Art, Oslo
2008
Benefit Auction
Swiss Institute, New York
Dark Continents
Museum of Contemporary Art - MOCA, Miami;
MOCA at Goldman Warehouse, Miami
Art Since the Summer of 69
195 Chrystie Street, New York
Dark Fair
Swiss Institute, New York
MSA
Mountain School of Arts, Los Angeles
Good News for People who love Bad News
SI Swiss Institute, New York
Background
Preus Museum, Horten
Medium Cool
Art in General, New York
LIGHTS ON
Astrup Fearnley Museet for Moderne Kunst, Oslo
NADA
Karma International, Miami
2007
The Corny Show
Karma International, Zurich
Tower
W 139, Amsterdam
MA degree show
The National Academy of Art, Stenersen Museum, Oslo
Varutstillingen 2007
Fotogalleriet, Oslo
Paris was yesterday
la Vitrine, Paris
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
The Green Gallery, Milwaukee
Von Zamlla Mina Mannar & Ida
Galleri De Praktijk, Amsterdam
2006
The Copy and Paste Show
New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York
Giving People What They Want
Glassbox, Paris
Everything I do (I do it for you)
Projekt 0047, Berlin
Fultjacks Blot
Raid Projects, Los Angeles
The Early Show
White Columns, New York
Bak Fronten - The Young Artists Society
Unge Kunstneres Samfund, Oslo
C U (on The Other Side)
Bastard, Oslo, NO; Ear Label, London
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Monographs
Herald St (Ed.): Ida Ekblad. A Day of Toil Among Its Ruins, London, 2014
De Vleeshal und MER. Paper Kunsthalle (Eds.): The Root Cellar, Ghent, 2014
Bergen Kunsthall (Ed.): Ida Ekblad. Poem Percussion, Bergen, 2010
Others
National Museum Oslo (Ed.): Faithless Pictures, Oslo, 2018
MOCA (Ed.): Dark Continents, Los Angeles, 2008
James Deutsher (Ed.): Evergreen 001, Melbourne, 2008
Susanne Saether & Jonas Ekeberg (Ed.): Background, Horten, 2008
Videos
Publications

la mia ceramica
Lynda Benglis, Ida Ekblad, Lucio Fontana, Günther Förg, Liz Larner, Fausto Melotti, Navid Nuur, Pablo Picasso, Sterling Ruby, David Salle, Josh Smith, Rosemarie Trockel, Rebecca Warren, Edmund de Waal
Galerie Max Hetzler / Holzwarth Publications, Berlin 2016
With an introduction by Edmund de Waal
€ 35.00
Selected Press
Berliner Zeitung March 2022
Kunstkritikk June 2021
Das Magazin July 2019
Artforum June 2019
Emulsion Magazine February 2019
Frieze April 2017
Fraeulein Magazine June 2015
BLAU May 2015
Frieze April 2015
Kaleidoscope Winter 2015
Artforum May 2013
Flash Art July – August – September 2013
Frieze November 2013
The Guardian December 2011
The Nation November 2011
Mousse Magazine 2010
Artforum December 2009