Kunst og litteratur: Tommy Olsson

Kunst og litteratur: Tommy Olsson
3 December, 6–7 PM

Oslo Kunstforening is pleased to invite you to a Christmas special – and the final edition of this year’s Kunst og litteratur series. On Wednesday, 3 December 18–19, Lotte Konow Lund meets artist and writer Tommy Olsson for a conversation about art, criticism, and life.

Lotte Konow Lund writes about the conversation:
With 21 years between them, Tommy Olsson has written two texts with the word gråt [cry] in the title. Both were published on Kunstkritikk.no, and both became the most discussed and shared art text of their respective year.

The first was titled "Jag är ensam, förvirrad och rädd, jag fryser och gråtattackerna kommer med allt kortare intervaller". The commission was a text about the now discontinued prize exhibition Carnegie Art Award at Kunstnernes Hus. The assignment was completed over many glasses of free wine at the opening, a drunken conversation with author Morten Strøksnes, a blackout at Lorry, several taxi rides, and finally an attempt to find an exit through a wardrobe. The comment section on Kunstkritikk in 2004 was endlessly long and filled with men arguing for and against.

In February 2025 came "Jeg er fryktelig alene, fortvilt, fattig og utbrent, men gråten min handler ærlig talt om andre ting", also on Kunstkritikk.no. This time, Olsson had been invited to cover the opening of PoMo in Trondheim. In true Olsson fashion, we follow him as he stands out in the cold trying to enter the exhibition, half a day late for the press preview, carrying a bag containing three imported beers and half a bottle of cheap vodka. His spiralling thoughts take the reader from Håkon Bleken’s final woodcut to guards who might join forces and throw someone out, tailored membership offers, and lukewarm shopping-mall art, all interrupted by a young woman behind the counter who absolutely refuses to hand out a free catalogue – critic or not.

The conversation between Tommy Olsson and Lotte Konow Lund will explore the two texts, and everything that has taken place in the meantime. Welcome!

Tommy Olsson (b. 1963 in Lindesberg, Sweden) lives in Trondheim. He is a visual artist and writer, and made his authorial debut in 2008 with Knust. Kritiske fragment 2000–2006 (Cappelen). Olsson has published five books. He is a regular contributor to Kunstkritikk and Klassekampen.

Lotte Konow Lund (b. 1967) is a visual artist and professor at KHiO. She has held solo exhibitions at a number of Norwegian art institutions, including Lillehammer Kunstmuseum (2016), Henie Onstad Kunstsenter (2016), and the Vigeland Museum (2011). Konow Lund has published the books Om kunst – 25 kunstnersamtaler (Forlaget Oktober, 2021) and Dagbøkene 2014–2016 (Teknisk Industri, 2016), and in 2025 she presented the solo exhibition Det hun sa at Kode.

The conversation series Kunst og litteratur is part of Oslo Kunstforening’s ongoing program Tidsrommet, with activities taking place on the ground floor of our premises. Tidsrommet is supported by Oslo kommune and Sparebankstiftelsen DNB.