Jelsen Lee Innocent
(He/him)
Address: Rådhusatelierene, Rådhusplassen 1, 0037 Oslo
Floor: 13
Room number: Studio B
The studio is open Saturday 18 April from 12-17
Jelsen Lee Innocent (NYC, 1983) is a Haitian-American interdisciplinary artist based in Norway. His research and studio practice examine the lasting impacts of imperialism across social hierarchies, built environments, and consumer culture. Integrating historical records and ephemera, contemporary media, and material experimentation, his work surfaces narratives that challenge hegemonic structures and open space for alternative imaginaries.
Research, Archives, Sculpture, Textile, Film & Animation, Sound
"Annou Reflechi"
Jelsen Lee Innocent
(2025)
Truth Has No Friends In The West
Nitja Senter for Samtidskunst
multimedia installation
Photographic prints on silk, clear resin, metal grommets, wire
325 x 600 cm
(detail)
"Faces At The Bottom Of The Well II"
Jelsen Lee Innocent
(2022)
We Are Not Myths
Art Hub Copenhagen
sculpture / installation
reclaimed wood, carpet, acrylic paint, tape, metal screws,
plastic tarp, water, food dye
8.25 m x 6.5 m x 10 cm
(installation image)
"As If Our Bodies Were Built To House Your Bullets"
Jelsen Lee Innocent
(2017)
Birth as Criterion
32nd Biennial of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana
sculpture / installation
steel, digital print on paper, acrylic paint
4.35 x 5.20 x .45 m
(installation image)
"Chains of Command"
Jelsen Lee Innocent
(2025)
Truth Has No Friends In The West
Nitja Senter for Samtidskunst
multimedia installation
plaster walls, tile glue, screens, found objects, video, sound
Excerpt of “Solèy O” by Talie, Jean Bernard Cerin
Duration: 15:14 mins
467 x 360 x 250 cm
(installation image)
In my studio
Through the fall of 2027, I’ve got the unique opportunity to have a studio in Rådhuset i Oslo. Since receiving the keys to the space, I’ve had an open door policy; encouraging group visits from a variety of communities. Inviting new and unconventional interpretations of how art and civic space collaborate.
As an extension of my practice, I founded Peer Review, a participatory initiative for and by Africans and its diaspora in Oslo, Norway. Since 2024, we’ve gathered monthly at Atelier Kunstnerforbundet to collectively explore, critique, and reflect on the ways Black identities are represented across art, media, and society.
Planned projects and exhibitions
(May – June 2026) Norway
Peer Review: ‘Shifting Coordinates’ exhibition
Kunstnerforbundet
(June – Sept 2025) Norway
‘The World, The Flesh and The Devil’ solo exhibition
Kunsthall Trondheim
CV
Jelsen Lee Innocent
DOB: 2 July 1983
Brooklyn, USA
Based in Norway
Email: jelseninnocent@gmail.com
Phone: (+47) 477 53 787
jelsenjelsenjelsen.com
maroon-methods.cargo.site
EDUCATION
Kunsthøgskolen i Oslo (2023–2025), MFA in Art and Public Space, Oslo, Norway
Miami Ad School (2004–2005), Certificate in Art Direction & Design, Miami Beach, FL, USA & Hamburg, DE
RECENT ARTISTIC ACTIVITY
2026
Peer Review: ‘Shifting Coordinates’ exhibition, Kunstnerforbundet, Norway
2026
The World, The Flesh and The Devil (Solo Exhibition), Kunsthall Trondheim, Norway
2025
Truth Has No Friends in The West (Solo Exhibition), NITJA Centre for Contemporary Art, Norway
2024
Artist Talk: Liberation and Imagination? Art, Congo, Haiti, and Sudan, MUNCH, Norway
Workshop Series, UngKunst & Ås Kulturskole, Norway
Artistic Director, Black History Month Norway, Norway
Semi-Finalist, KORO Kunstvegger – Skissekonkurranse (Pending Result), Norway
Artist in Residence, Atelier Kunstnerforbundet, Norway
Workshop Series, Astrup Fearnley Museum, Norway
2025
Truth Has No Friends in The West, Solo Exhibition, NITJA Centre for Contemporary Art, Norway
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2024
Working on It, Kunsthall Oslo, Norway
(be)longing: å falle mellom to stoler, House of Foundation, Norway
2023
Smithsonian Institute – Men of Change, Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, USA
Smithsonian Institute – Men of Change, Levine Museum of the New South & Harvey B. Gantt Center, USA
Smithsonian Institute – Men of Change, Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture, USA
2022
Smithsonian Institute – Men of Change, Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, USA
2021
Smithsonian Institute – Men of Change, African American Museum, USA
We Are Not Myths: Opacities Across Difference, Culture Art Society (CAS) / Art Hub: Thoravej 29, Denmark
Smithsonian Institute – Men of Change, Anacostia Community Museum, USA
2019–2020
Smithsonian Institute – Men of Change, California African American Museum, USA
2019
Smithsonian Institute – Men of Change, Washington State History Museum, USA
2018
Smithsonian Institute – Men of Change, National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, USA
2017
Reflection, Köşk Gallery, Germany
2016
Birth as Criterion, 32nd Biennial of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana, Slovenia
49° Festival: Future Ports of Entry, Iwalewahaus, Universität Bayreuth, Germany