Jack Helgesen Family CollectionArcheology of the Image

In 2012 Vestfossen Kunstlaboratorium presented the exhibition Archaeology of the Image, with works chosen from Jack Helgesen's collection.

This exhibition was the tenth in succession and a golden opportunity for us to revisit Jack Helgesen's collection, where it all began almost ten years ago. Jack Helgesen's collection ranges over a broad spectrum, both of artists, artistic expressions, and collecting strategies. For the 2012 exhibition Vestfossen Kunstlaboratorium and Jack Helgesen had therefore chosen to collaborate with Haugar Vestfold Art Museum and the Vigeland Museum, which also presented curated exhibitions of works selected from Helgesen's collection, the same year. The collection was (and is) too extensive to be presented in its entirety, but thanks to the teamwork of these three institutions some of the main threads running through it were illuminated. 

A book accompanied the exhibitions with texts by the three curators who have worked on them: Mari F. Sundet from Kunstlaboratoriet, Tone Lyngstad Nyaas from Haugar and Jarle Strømodden from the Vigeland Museum.

Archaeology of the Image

Vestfossen Kunstlaboratorium's exhibition had its own title, Archaeology of the Image. Curator Mari F. Sundet wished to highlight artists who were in a particular dialogue with earlier artistic expressions. It was also an exhibition that focused on painting. Although the collection embraces sculpture, photography, video, and installations, the works that have been selected in these media can also be related to the history of painting and its contemporary implications. At the core of this exhibition was therefore an examination of how late modern (or postmodern) art has negotiated with the sign systems of modern art and early modernism. In general terms these negotiations take the form of references to the various "isms" of twentieth century art, as later defined and categorized by art historians.

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Installation photos: Vegard Kleven

Participating artists

• Tom Allen
• Roger Ballen
• Steve Bishop
• Martin Boyce
• Meg Cranston
• Markus Draper
• John Duncan
• Nicole Eisenman
• Kirsten Everberg
• Valie Export
• Bernhard Frize
• Till Gerhard
• Leon Golub
• Jonathan Hammer
• Anton Henning
• Axel Hütte
• Dominik Lejman
• João Louro
• Jörg Lozek
• Vik Muniz
• Jochen Mühlenbrink
• Kenneth Noland
• Jules Olitski
• Olaf Quantius
• Fredrik Raddum
• Rigo 23
• Elke Sobotka
• Keith Sonnier
• Tomoaki Suzuki
• Nicola Verlato
• Morten Viskum
• Ståle Vold
• Fred Wilson