Viking-Venus-Art-Catalog

THE RESTAURANT | DECK 2
ZDENKA RUSOVA
1939 NORWAY ETCHING
Through her impressive career, spanning half a century, Zdenka Rusova has become one of Norway’s most renowned artists. Working mainly in printmaking
and painting, she produces art featuring somber silhouettes of human figures as well as more colorful and abstract pieces resembling everything from
landscapes to puzzling dreamlike rooms.
Rusova was educated at the Academy of Arts, Architecture & Design in Prague; the Stuttgart State Academy of Art and Design in Germany; and the University
of Oslo in Norway. She was born in Prague, Czech Republic, but fled to Norway and became a Norwegian citizen in 1974. She perceived the Norwegian art
scene as less confining than that of the Czechs’, which was strictly controlled by the Communist regime following the Prague Spring in 1968. Her works have
often been described as a meeting of Czech and Norwegian art traditions, resulting in thought-evoking and experimental pieces.
In addition to her career as an artist, Rusova has had an immense influence on Norwegian contemporary art through the many central positions she has held
at Norwegian art institutions. Between 1981 and 1985, she was an associate professor at the National Academy of Fine Art in Oslo. This was followed by a
two-year tenure at the Western Norway Academy of Art in Bergen, where she also served as the head of the printmaking department. In 1987, she returned
to the National Academy of Fine Art as a rector, becoming the first woman to hold this position in Scandinavia. Today, she is also an honorary member of the
Association of Norwegian Printmakers.
BREAK THROUGH | 2012
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