Johan Andrén
(He/him)
Address: Hausmania, Hausmanns gate 34, 0182 Oslo
Floor: 4
Room number: 1407A
The studio is open Saturday 18 April from 12-17
I remember listening to a radio program several years ago, that attempted to bring together astronomy and philosophical or at least existential themes. The astronomer in the program explained that to get a better image of how space is actually laid out, I could lie down on my back outdoors on a starry night, look up towards the stars but know that it was actually downwards I was looking.
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Photography is central to my practice, I make images with a camera and use found image materials, and often experiment with different analogue techniques. In addition to photography I also use other media: text, publishing, video/film and installation.
Photography, film, installation, publishing, text
Reflected Black Sun (Tesla), Johan Andrén, 16mm film loop, 16mm projector, plinth covered in paper, 2025, Fotogalleriet.
Detail of "see I what see You, You see what I see", Johan Andrén, 16mm film loop (00:43 seconds), 16mm projector, cast tin object (7 x 7 x 1cm), 2023, KHiO White Box.
Cousins, Johan Andrén, xerox prints (enlargement of graphite rubbing), wallpaper glue, 200 x 250 cm, 2023, Kunsternes Hus.
Black Sun 1, Johan Andrén, solarised silver gelatin print on direct positive photo paper, 6,5 x 5,5cm, 2023, Kunstnernes Hus.
In my studio
In my studio you can see a little of what I’m currently working on, and get a feel for what it’s like to have a studio at Hausmania.
Planned projects and exhibitions
Spring 2026: release of artist book with rubbings and and essay on touch, blindness and images
June 2026: Artist residency and show w/ Mark Walker, at Nordiska Konstförbundet (Stockholm, SE)
CV
EDUCATION
2021—2023 Master of Fine Art, Oslo National Academy of the Arts
2014—2017 BFA in Photography, Valand Academy
2016 Exchange semester, Iceland Academy of Arts, Reykjavík
SELECTED SOLO shows and collaborations
2025 Words I can’t Remember, w/ Vilde Blom, Thingness, Bergen (NO) / online
2025 Solar Scars, w/ Mark Walker, Showcase Lab 106, Frankfurt Am Main (DE)
2024 Ögonhåla, Orbit, Oslo Prosjektrom (NO)
2024 Strangers, Friends and You, with Naeun Kang and Sara Guldmyr, Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo (NO)
2023 Between your eye and the other, MFA solo degree show, White Box, Oslo (NO)
2022 SUNBLIND, Skylight, Oslo (NO)
2022 NEJD Magasin NR4, NEJD upprepar sig, w/ David Eng, 3:e Våningen, Gothenburg (SE)
2021 Duo show with Vilde Blom, Macken, Malmö (SE)
2021 Among Other Things, Galleri Format, Malmö (SE)
2020 Den här ytan är viktig för berättelsen, duo show with Moa Gustafsson Söndergaard, NEJD, Gothenburg (SE)
2020 Catalogue of Gestures of Power, Third Iteration, with Slåpåkunst at Sosiologisk Poliklinikk, Trondheim (NO)
Selected group shows
2025 Fotoboksfestivalen, Oslo (NO)
2025 Oslo Negativ, Oslo (NO)
2025 Vårutstillingen, Fotogalleriet, Oslo (NO)
2024 Oslo Zine Fest (NO)
2024 Athens Art Book Fair (GR)
2024 Upplaga 6—helg för självpublikation, NEJD, Gothenburg (SE)
2024 Kunstbokmessen B*stard, Lillehammer (NO)
2024 Bergen Art Book Fair, (NO)
2023 Åpent hus, Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo (NO)
2023 Upplaga 5—helg för självpublikation, NEJD, Gothenburg (SE)
2023 Free Education For All, MFA group degree show, Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo
2023 The Art of Mirrors, Atelier Nord, Oslo (NO)
2022 Fotobok Gbg, Litteraturhuset, Gothenburg (SE)
2022 Waiting to go upstairs, Akademirommet, Oslo (NO)
2022 Bloom, Vulkano, Gothenburg (SE)
2021 Use your heart as a phone, Interkulturelt Museum, Oslo (NO)
2020 Upplaga 3—helg för självpublikation, NEJD, Gothenburg (SE)
2020 Le Book Club, Fotogalleriet, Oslo (NO)
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SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
2025 Workshop with resultant collaborative artist book, Kunstbok Oslo,Kunstnernes Hus (Oslo, NO), 2025
2024 I blindo, med händerna trevande framför mig, self published artist book
2018 – 2022 NEJD Magasin NR1 – NR3, self published magazine edited w/ David Eng
2021 Work published in Atla On Paper, third edition Forbindelser
2020 Korrespondens / Den här ytan är viktigför berättelsen, self published artist book with Moa Gustafsson Söndergaard
2017 – ongoing continuous output of various self published fanzines
SELECTED GRANTS, RESIDENCIES and commissions
2026 One month residency, Leveld Kunstnartun, Ål (NO)
2023 Studio grant at Kunstnernes Hus, FKDS
2021 Public commission for the ambulance station in Ålem, Region Kalmar (SE)
2020 One year working grant, Swedish Arts Grants Committee
2020 Two month residency at LKV, Trondheim (NO)
2021 – Recurrent project support from Arts and Culture Norway, BKV, Fond for lyd og bilde, Norsk Fotografisk Fond, Nordic culture point, City of Gothenburg
OTHER
2023– Founding member of Oslo Crit Klubb
2017– Founding member of NEJD, artist run experimental platform in Gothenburg (SE)