Art can reflect the world as it is—but it can also give form to inner lives, dreams, and imagination. Between Dreams and Reality brings these two perspectives together in an exhibition centred on two key movements in the history of modernism: Expressionism and Surrealism.
Both movements emerged in the first half of the twentieth century and had a profound impact in the Nordic countries as well. Expressionist artists sought to convey intense emotions and subjective experiences through vivid colours, bold brushstrokes, and simplified forms. Surrealists, by contrast, turned their gaze inward, toward the subconscious, where dreams, desire, and the unexpected became driving forces in artistic expression.
The exhibition also includes related artistic approaches—from the CoBrA group’s interest in spontaneity and so-called “primitive” expression, to works created at the intersection of art and psychological vulnerability, as well as works with a strong social and political edge.
Nordic artists were closely connected to international art scenes, particularly in Berlin and Paris, and developed their own interpretations of Expressionism and Surrealism. The exhibition features works by artists including Sigrid Hjertén, Isaac Grünewald, Rolf Nesch, Sigurd Winge, Rita Kernn-Larsen, Wilhelm Freddie, Asger Jorn, and Bendik Riis.
Between Dreams and Reality shows how artists drew on both inner and outer worlds to create new visual languages—and how these expressions continue to resonate today.
About Stories from The Tangen Collection
Between Dreams and Reality. Stories from The Tangen Collectionis part of a larger collaborative project between Kunstsilo and art historian and external curator Steinar Gjessing. Over many years, Gjessing has contributed to the development of the Tangen Collection—which today comprises nearly 7,000 works of art—and his experience and perspectives are highly relevant to Kunstsilo’s ongoing work with the stewardship and future management of the collection.
The exhibition presents, for the first time, a substantial number of artworks recently acquired from the Canica Art Collection. The Canica Collection was built up in the years following the turn of the millennium by the well-known business leader Stein Erik Hagen. When Steinar Gjessing was appointed as art advisor, the collection underwent a significant shift and took on a new direction, with a stronger emphasis on acquiring experimental and avant-garde art from the Nordic countries.
This major expansion has deepened the Tangen Collection and added a number of key works by central Nordic artists of the twentieth century—further strengthening its position as a vital source of insight into the Nordic modernist tradition.
The three exhibitions that make up this project are conceived as parts of one overarching whole. The intention has been to highlight some of the most important focal points of the collection, thereby outlining key trajectories in recent Nordic art that might otherwise be less readily visible.