QB Gallery, NO

Fluid conversations on modernism: Espen Gleditsch’s series Sanatorium Stenersen focuses on early functionalist architecture, particularly sanatoriums built for tuberculosis patients across Europe in the early 20th century. The photographs capture the interplay and tension between utopian ideals and existential anxiety. In Damp Window (Paimio Sanatorium), a dripping surface showcases the melting together of architecture, nature’s healing powers and the fragility of the human body.

Lars Morell’s abstract bronze sculptures The Host and The Guest similarly indicate something human. They appear organic, fluid and bodily – with a push and pull between belonging together and rejecting one another, referencing the sense of alienation and the scaling down of form to the absolute essential found in modernism.

This artistic dialogue invites viewers to reflect on the influence of modernism in the histories we inherit, the spaces we move through, and the ideas that continue to shape our perceptions.