For the past month, Norwegian painter Ilija Wyller has withdrawn into the home Edvard Munch himself had used as a site of withdrawal during a phase of great emotional strain in 1907. In the resultant exhibition A Hermitess Manifesto at the Edvard Munch Haus Warnemünde, the artist explores the desire to break free from the acquired habits of a hyper-connected present, but also the reclusive character (and potential) intrinsic to the act of painting itself.

Her abstractions are landscapes of no particular place, but mindscapes blurring the borders between experience and surrounding, introspection and extroversion. Some paintings are opaque and self-contained, others shimmering and inviting. There is a restless movement evident, not only in the distinct traces of the artist’s rapid hand in wax-mixed oil paint, but in the constant oscillations between disparate textures, techniques and moods.

In the context of the Edvard Munch Haus, Wyller’s work seems to emphasize the importance of snapshot-like moments of seclusion in charting tiny but necessary detours from the information superhighway. And while the manifesto as a form of political expression is generally characterized by its convictional and prescriptive character, Wyller’s A Hermitess Manifesto subverts the genre entirely by offering an open-ended homage to those seeking to momentarily decouple from precisely such prescribed futures.

Opening:
17 June 2023 / 12 - 6 pm
Introduction: 3 pm

Opening Hours:
Fridays till Sundays 12 - 17 h
17 June until 30 July 2023

We gratefully acknowledge the support of: Oslo Kommune and Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock

Ilija Wyller (*1987), graduated from the Bergen Academy of Fine Arts, and is based in Oslo and Berlin. In her most recent project, Wyller negotiates the flows and boundaries between objects, subjects and their context in abstract landscape paintings. She has exhibited at the Astrup Fearnley Museum, Oslo; Kunstnerforbundet, Oslo; Noah Klink, Berlin; and Galleri Opdahl, Stavanger, among others. She has absolved a residency at Cites des Arts in Paris, her works have been acquired by KORO (Public Art Norway), and are included in several private collections.

All images courtesy of the artist.