John K. Raustein
(He/him)
Address: Frysja kunstnersenter, Kjelsåsveien 145, 0491 Oslo
Floor: 2.
Room number: Bygg 6, rom 2002
The studio is open Saturday 26 April from 12-17
The starting point for my artistic practice is textile art, and I use it to investigate the relationships between invisibility, exclusion, privilege and resistance. I explore the textile tradition’s many possibilities – materially, conceptually and sculpturally. I work methodically, transforming emotional and tactile memories from my own childhood, upbringing and present life into abstract works of art. I am interested in how current events can transport us back to an earlier place and time. The works are about remembering things one didn’t know one had forgotten. I seek the triggers – a mental image, a flash of something, a colour, a sound, a smell, or a place – and strive to make visible a feeling of existential dread.
My works are often made out of a simple and unassuming material, cotton canvas, and in a restricted colour palette. The execution is based on techniques that seem simple, but in reality, countless hours of sewing and stitching by machine and hand are needed, as well as hundreds of meters of cotton canvas. There are innumerable repetitions of sewing one piece of cloth onto another. My works stand as a manifestation of time, and in this way, they relate to the invisible labour often associated with the textile tradition.
Textile, Installation, Sculputure
John K. Raustein. When Everything We Know Becomes Strange (Reactivated Outline) terrakotta/candy. Høstutstillingen. The Annual National Exhibition of The Visual Arts, Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo 2023 Photo: Øystein Thorvaldsen.
Amulet. Unidentified appearance (methods of combat) 2024
Detail of a site-specific installation created for the anniversary exhibition "My Stavanger" as part of Stavanger's 900-year jubilee.
Photo: Jan Inge Haga/Hike Communication /Stavanger Museum
Planned projects and exhibitions
2025
Rephrased moments. Kunstvisitten /Nitja sender for samtidskunst. Oslo Bus terminal.
CV
John K. Raustein (b.1972) Living and working in Oslo.
www.johnkraustein.com
Education
1995 – 2000 Bergen National Academy of Arts.
1997 The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. Schools of Architecture, Design and Conservation.
Solo & Duo Exhibitions (selection)
2025 Rephrased moments. Kunstvisitten/Nitja , Oslo Bussterminal.
2023 Solo Exhibition, Sølvberget Galleri, Stavanger.
2022 adapted truths/tilrettelagte sannheter. Nitja Centre for Contemporary Art. Lillestrøm.(NO)
2021 Archive of Oblivion/ Glemselens arkiv, North Norwegian Artist Centre/Nordnorsk Kunstnersenter.
2021 When everything shows itself as it is. Deichman Bjørvika/Oslo public Library.
2021 Solo Presentation, Juxtapose Art Fair, Aarhus, Denmark.
2019 Floating attachment/ Flytende feste, Oppland Art Centre, Lillehammer.
2019 When everything falls into place/ Når alt faller på plass. Kunstnerforbundet, Oslo.
2018 away from the window and into the light. Trøndelag Centre for Contemporary Art, Trondheim.
2017 While you become dust/ mens du blir til jord, KRAFT, Bergen.
2016 Say it goes well. Say it goes great. (Say it again). Buskerud Art Centre, Drammen.
2015 Sound of breathing out, Gallery FORMAT, Oslo.
2014 Øystein’s method. collaboration with Synnøve Øyen, Project room Carl Berner, Oslo.
2014 Under the law of transformation. Collaboration with Synnøve Øyen, Østfold Art Centre.
2014 Secrets without context /Hemmeligheter uten sammenheng, SOFT Gallery, Oslo.
2013 Portretter, bløte juveler og annet fandenskap, Akershus Art Centre, Lillestrøm.
2012 Tre/tri, collaboration with S. Øyen, House of Foundation, Moss.
2012 Interacting II, collaboration with S. Øyen. Hå Gamle Prestegard, Hå.
2011 Interacting, collaboration with Synnøve Øyen. Ram Gallery, Oslo.
Group Exhibitions (selections)
2023 Høstutstillingen. The Annual National Exhibition of The Visual Arts, Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo.
2023 The annual craft exhibition. The National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, Oslo.
2022 The Queer Gaze, KODE, Art Museums of Bergen.
2021 The Westland exhibitions / Vestlandsutstillingen. Jugendstilsenteret & KUBE, Kunsthuset Kabuso, Kunsthall Stavanger and Kunstgarasjen.
2020 The Annual National Exhibition of The Visual Arts, Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo.
2020 26 artist- 26 years. Bomuldsfabiken Kunsthall, Arendal.
2018 Nordic Hands, Godsbanen, Aarhus, Denmark.
2017 PRESENT, Bomuldsfabiken Kunsthall, Arendal.
2017 Gustavsbergs Konsthall Revisited. Gustavsberg, Sweden.
2017 The Annual National Exhibition of The Visual Arts, Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo.
2016 Østlandsutstillingen. Vestfold and Østfold Art Centre. Tønsberg and Fredrikstad.
2015 The Annual National Exhibition of The Visual Arts, Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo.
2015 Eye of the Needle: Contemporary Embroidery, The National Museum of Art, Oslo.
2014 Eye of the Needle: Contemporary Embroidery, KODE, Art Museums of Bergen.
2014 KODE Contemporary – I! Kode Art Museums of Bergen.
2014 Eingefädelt, Landeshaus Gallery, Kiel, Germany.
2013 Tusen tråder – en historiefortelling i tekstil, Lillehammer Art Museum, Lillehammer.
2013 Stereo Not Mono, Stadtgalerie im Elbeforum Brunsbüttel, Brunsbüttel, Germany.
2012 SLUMP- Luck by Chance, Gustavsbergs Konsthall, Stockholm, Sweden.
2012 The Spring Exhibition 2012, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen, Denmark.
2012 Connecting, touring exhibition; Denmark and Sweden.
2011 Norwegian Contemporary Craft, Bir Nokta Art Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey.
2011 SLUMP- Luck By Chance, Bomuldsfabiken Kunsthall, Arendal.
2011 Tendenser 2011, Gallery F15, Jeløya, Moss and TSSK, Trondheim.
2011 Connecting, Touring exhibition; Germany, Norway and Finland.
2011 När världen snurrar, så snurrar vi med, Katrineholms Konsthall, Sweden.
2010 Shetland Arts, Bonhoga Gallery, Shetland.
2008 A World of Folk, Stavanger 08.
2008 Collect 2008, Victoria & Albert Museum, London.
2007 Meccano, SKMU The Southern Norway Art Museum, Kristiansand
2005 New Horizons, The Manx Museum, Isle of Man.
2005 Textile 05, Kaunas, Lithuania.
2005 Konsthåndverk 05, Röda Sten, Gothenburg, Sweden.
2003 Flexible 4, Touring Exhibition; England, Netherland, Denmark and Germany
2003 Meeting Place, Touring Exhibition: Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, and Lithuania.
Collections
Equinor art programme
Domus Bibliotheca, Universitetet i Oslos kunstsamling
SKMU, The Southern Norway Art Museum, Kristiansand.
KODE, Art Museums of Bergen, Bergen.
The National Museum of Decorative Arts, Trondheim.
The National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, Oslo.
Gosen primary school Art Collection, Stavanger.
Gassco Art collection, Karmøy.
Royal Caribbean, “Mariner of the seas”.