2025 is the Year of Printmaking in Kristiansand, marking the 50th anniversary of Myren Grafikk – an artist-run print workshop founded in 1975.Kunstsilo celebrates this with a major exhibition that highlights the diversity and artistic potential of the graphic medium.
On the second floor of the museum, you’ll encounter works by some of the most influential artists who have made a lasting impression on Nordic printmaking throughout the 20th century: Edvard Munch, John Savio, John Axel Fridell, Rolf Nesch, Asger Jorn, Anna-Eva Bergman, Inger Sitter, Tuulikki Pietilä, Sam Vanni, Gunnar S. Gundersen, Kjell Nupen – and many, many more.
Kunstsilo’s collections contain a rich selection of prints ranging from the early 20th century to the present. In this exhibition, we highlight printmaking as an artistic form – as it’sreflected in the museum’s holdings. Visitors will experience a wide range of approaches to the medium, from intricate etchings and expressive woodcuts to vibrant lithographs, advanced intaglio techniques, and silkscreen prints.
“Edvard Munch played a significant role for later generations of artists by legitimizing printmaking as an independent art form,” says Kunstsilo curator Ask Silva Selnes. “One example is the German artist Rolf Nesch, who is especially known for his radical approach to the graphic medium. When he fled to Norway after Hitler came to power in 1933, Munch is said to have been one of the reasons he chose this country. ‘A country that has a Munch, must be a good country’,Nesch is reported to have said in a speech given when he received the Lichtwarck Prize in 1958”.
Nesch – whose work is widely represented in the Tangen Collection – had an experimental approach to printmaking that influenced a later generation of Norwegian artists, including Sigurd Winge and Henrik Finne.”
Lasting Impressions provides a historical view of how artists from the Nordic countries have worked with printmaking, and how inspiration and knowledge have travelled with them across national borders. This exhibition presents examples of how printmaking has functioned as reproduction, illustration, and political expression – but above all, as an autonomous art form. Broader developments in the art field are reflected in printmaking, both in terms of subject matter and experimentation with new techniques.
In the wake of World War II, printmaking saw a remarkable resurgence. This period saw the launch of several initiatives and programmes designed to make art accessible to the public – in homes, schools, and workplaces – often linked to the social democratic values of the Nordic countries. Printmaking played a crucial role in this context, as prints could be produced and distributed in large editions at affordable prices.
From the late 1960s onward, several artist-run print workshops were also established – including Myren Grafikk in Kristiansand and the GRAS workshop in Oslo (founded by the artist group GRAS). These spaces have ensured the transmission of skills and access to professional equipment. Their members have also been actively engaged in advocating for artists’ professional rights and working to open up and democratize the art field. Making art accessible and bringing it into society has been a key goal.
The exhibition also features a range of recent works, demonstrating that printmaking as an art form is alive and thriving – represented by a broad and exceptional array of graphic expressions.
