Between the Clock and the Bed
Exhibition Design for Edvard Munch
2018
Introduction
Shortly before his death in 1944, Edward Munch painted the self-portrait which gave the exhibition its name. The painting, Between the Clock and the Bed, depicts Munch as an old man looking back on his life as he faces the end of it. The exhibition presents a selection of some of Munch’s most renowned works, realized from when Munch was an adolescent to the age of 80. In this sense, both the exhibition and the portrait itself provide a retrospective view on Munch’s artistic life and work.
Technical details
It's a very communicative exhibition, which particularly allows less experienced museum guests to discover Munch’s art on their own terms. The exhibition rooms themselves do not display a lot of text or offer too much guidance, as these elements sometimes can interfere with one’s interpretation of the art pieces,
Stein Olav Henrichsen Director, The Munch Museum
The exhibition design consists of large furniture installations with organically shaped benches in plywood, covered with comfortable black mats that one can sit or lie on while exploring Munch’s art at one’s own pace. The furniture underpins the exhibition’s mission of sparking interest about each art piece so that visitors truly can and delve into Munch’s work.
In several rooms, ceiling-mounted video screens project Munch’s works up-close, captured in slow motion, as if studied under a magnifying glass. They provide the audience with the opportunity to lie down on the angled benches and study the individual paint strokes, while simultaneously viewing the full-sized painting exhibited on the wall. This allows people to engage with the art in a completely different way than what they are used to.
The exhibited works have recently been shown at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Contact
Name
Title
Location
Phone
