Margrethe Aanestad: Calm Glow

Time Equities Inc. Art-in-Buildings is pleased to announce the newest exhibition at the West 10th Window Satellite Space: Margrethe Aanestad, Calm Glow.

In Calm Glow, Margrethe Aanestad presents a two-part exhibition that continues her ongoing explorations of form, color, material, and space.

In Part I, Aanestad hangs a large drawing of a soft pink circle composed of meticulously applied layers of chalk and pastel. The circle dominates the window space, creating a radiant portal that draws the viewer into its luminous surface, enveloping and encasing them in its glow. The reflective window panes further serve to pull the viewer into the circular gate, placing their body through the glass and onto the surface of the work. Drawn onto a hanging paper sheet, Aanestad cuts the circle off at its base where the bottom of the paper rolls onto the floor of the window space. The straight edge of the cropped circle imitates a horizon line, giving the circle the effect of a setting or rising sun. As the light shifts over the course of the day, the installation changes with it – interacting with and reflecting upon the Hudson Street window space.

To the left of the drawing, Aanestad installs a rectangular paper sheet covered in swathes of gold paint and a note of the circle’s pink within its borders. Two small sculptures of shining brass, dark granite, and black marble create a material contrast to the delicate, seemingly gossamer paper of the central and side drawings. The curved, semi-circular brass element delicately balances on its granite base, its color echoing the golden painting at left and its curved form echoing the pink circle at right.

In Part II, Aanestad replaces the delicate pastel drawing with a heavy mass of velvet fabric in the same pink shade, deconstructing the thin but enveloping form and crumpling it into itself. The neutral pink tones of the fabric are balanced with a blue swathe of material that evokes a glimpse of night sky. Sprinkled lines of pastel pigment at left echo the interplay of colors in the fabrics, further recalling a horizon line at dusk or dawn. Aanestad surrounds these forms with delicate sculptures of marble, copper, and bronze. At right, a thick copper semicircle balances on a white marble base, acting as a transformed reflection of the thin brass loop on black marble of Part I.

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Margrethe Aanestad (b. 1974 Norway) lives and works in Brooklyn, NY and Stavanger, Norway. Aanestad works in drawing, painting and sculpture using various media, such as pastel chalks, watercolor and ink on paper, and textile and marble in sculpture. Spring 2021 she participated in a three-months residency at Residency Unlimited, NY and had studio-residency at AAI, Manhattan. Her work has been exhibited at galleries including Tiger Strikes Asteroid, NY; Open Source Gallery, NY; Torrance Shipman, NY; Dimensions Variable, Miami, FL; Interface gallery, Oakland, CA; Kunsthall Stavanger (Norway); Abingdon Studios, Blackpool, UK. Her works are included in several private collections internationally. Aanestad was co-founder and -director of the artist-run non-profit space Prosjektrom Normanns for nearly a decade (2011-2020) in Stavanger. Aanestad studied fine arts at the Rogaland Art College and graduated with a BA from the University of Stavanger in Culture & Art Management.

Photos by Curtis Kline.

Coming soon to the West 10th Window Satellite Space: Charlotte Becket and Gyun Hur.

For press inquiries please contact: QUINN | TEI@quinn.pr | 212.868.1900

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Calm Glow is curated by Eliana Blechman and is sponsored by the Time Equities Inc. (TEI) Art-in-Buildings Program. TEI is committed to enriching the experience of our properties through the Art-in-Buildings Program, an innovative approach that brings contemporary art by emerging and mid-career artists to non-traditional exhibition spaces in the interest of promoting artists, expanding the audience for art, and creating a more interesting environment for our building occupants, residents, and their guests.

In Part II, Aanestad replaces the delicate pastel drawing with a heavy mass of velvet fabric in the same pink shade, deconstructing the thin but enveloping form and crumpling it into itself. The neutral pink tones of the fabric are balanced with a blue swathe of material that evokes a glimpse of night sky. Sprinkled lines of pastel pigment at left echo the interplay of colors in the fabrics, further recalling a horizon line at dusk or dawn. Aanestad surrounds these forms with delicate sculptures of marble, copper, and bronze. At right, a thick copper semicircle balances on a white marble base, acting as a transformed reflection of the thin brass loop on black marble of Part I.

Calm Glow is curated by Eliana Blechman and is sponsored by the Time Equities Inc. (TEI) Art-in-Buildings Program. TEI is committed to enriching the experience of our properties through the Art-in-Buildings Program, an innovative approach that brings contemporary art by emerging and mid-career artists to non-traditional exhibition spaces in the interest of promoting artists, expanding the audience for art, and creating a more interesting environment for our building occupants, residents, and their guests.