View Jan Christensen Atelie profile

I am an artist who has always regarded the intricate connections of the art world and the mechanisms of the market with great interest, in addition to the academic discourse surrounding art. My artistic work is in many ways a reflection of this, where I have approached my art projects in a manner that references both art history and contemporary aesthetics, technological developments, and cultural understanding.

I have had numerous exhibitions, artistic collaborations, and experiences on the fringes of the art field, intersecting with architecture, design, and popular culture, which may not necessarily align with traditional artists' careers.

With such perspectives, curation and strategic thinking have also become a part of my practice. I have had the opportunity to meet many interesting individuals and have contributed various thoughts on art in multiple contexts.

Some of this involvement has included formal board positions in various institutions within the art scene, ranging from exhibition spaces like Kunstnernes Hus and Trafo Kunsthall, to production spaces like Fellesverkstedet in Oslo, and to Fegerstens Foundation, which provides scholarships to Norwegian visual artists.

I hold a rather uncompromising and progressive view of contemporary art, and I might perceive the art scene as somewhat conservative and traditional, where artists and many of the environment's own actors themselves represent some of these attitudes. At the same time, this is understandable because art represents some of the most valuable and complex ideas in terms of authenticity and originality, which many other fields aspire to, in a world where timeliness and attention compete with these values.

My involvement on the board of Atelie feels natural in the context of my background and interest in art production, art dissemination, and the professionalization of the art market.

Jan Christensen was born in Copenhagen in 1977 and currently resides in Oslo. He is a Norwegian visual artist with international exhibition activity and curator practice since 2001. He has a background from the Oslo National Academy of the Arts (Statens Håndverks- og Kunstindustriskole/KHIO) where he studied from 1997 to 2000. He has a diverse and extensive body of work, with numerous exhibitions that include his own projects and various artistic collaborations. Additionally, he has taken on roles as a curator and contributed his expertise in various contexts, including lectures, artistic advice, board positions, scholarship juries, and various committees.