Espen Johansen

Espen Johansen (b. 1985 in Bergen, Norway) is an art historian, curator and writer based in Bergen. He holds an MA in Art History from the University of Bergen (2011) and a degree in Creative Curating from the Bergen Academy of Art and Design (2014). Starting in 2019, he will participate in the one-year course, ‘Negotiating Artistic Value: Art and Architecture in Public Space’ at the Royal Academy of Art in Stockholm. Previously Johansen has worked as interim director at Kabuso Art Centre, curator for the graduation show for Bergen Academy of Art and Design, assistant curator at Bergen Kunsthall, and project manager for Bergen Assembly. Curatorial projects include Sandra Vaka – Jugs, Daniel Gustav Cramer – five days, Terence Koh – sticks, stones and bones, Tora Endestad Bjørkheim, Bjørn-Henrik Lybeck, and co-curated the group show Nabolag, where different artists made site-specific works in the area Danmarksplass in Bergen. His curatorial practice stems from investigations into the potency of art as an alternative communicative device through time and across borders in our mediatized society, particularly focusing on art in the public space and the power structures of the public sphere; who gets to say what and how? His exhibition projects are usually developed over long time in close dialogue with the artists and result in new productions. Johansen has previously curated both solo and group exhibitions, as well as interventions and temporary artworks in public space. He has worked as an art theory lecturer at Bergen School of Art for several years and contributed with texts to multiple publications and art magazines. www.espenjohansen.art