Format Oslo
Oslo
Format was founded in 1991 and is a leading gallery for contemporary crafts and design in Norway.
The gallery aims to strengthen the position of Norwegian contemporary crafts and design internationally. Through working with both established and emerging artists the gallery reflects the various tendencies in contemporary crafts and design today. The gallery’s aim is to challenge established norms while highlighting key values in the field by actively bringing a wider spectrum of artistic practices in material-based art to the fore.
Featured artists
Marit Tingleff
Marit Tingleff is one of Norway’s most celebrated contemporary ceramic artists. Her work is expressive, with strongly ornamental features and undulating, organic lines. Gravity has been allowed to determine the direction of the flowing movements of the engobe down the surface, as dishes and tiles are lifted during the application. Vertical lines in repetitive rhythms show signs that the action has been impulsive, yet skilled. Her painterly application of colourful glazes reference nature, land and seascapes and despite a complex process of glazing and firing, she maintains an incredible sense of spontaneity, balancing areas of light and dark, pattern and empty space while playing with different ways of mark making.
Marit Tingleff (b. 1954) has exhibited widely, both in the Nordic countries and internationally. Her international breakthrough came when she participated in the exhibition Scandinavian Craft Today, which travelled to Japan and the USA in 1987 – 1988. Her work is included in a number of museums such as The National Museum in Norway, Design Museum Denmark and the Victoria and Albert Museum. She has been awarded several public commissions including work for the Norwegian Government Representation Buildings in Oslo, Norway.