Kistefos is proud to present the first major museum survey of American sculptor Kathleen Ryan. Following its debut at Hamburger Kunsthalle in 2024, the exhibition opened at Kistefos on 4 May 2025 and will be on view throughout the season. It spans two of our industrial-era gallery venues – Nybruket Gallery and Tresliperiet – marking the first time a single exhibition occupies both spaces.
The exhibition brings together 25 sculptures created between 2014 and 2024, showcasing a decade of Ryan’s innovative practice. Her large-scale, meticulously crafted sculptures explore themes of decay, desire, excess, and transformation. They juxtapose the synthetic and the organic, the mass-produced and the handmade, and often incorporate found objects such as bowling balls, chandelier fittings, or rusted car bonnets alongside glittering semi-precious stones and traditional sculptural materials.
Several major bodies of work are represented, including reclining concrete Bacchantes that reference classical mythology, cast iron calipers suspended in mid-measurement, hand-modelled ceramic birds arranged in solemn clusters, and Ryan’s iconic “Bad Fruit” sculptures – overripe fruit forms encrusted with gemstone mould. Together, these works interrogate cycles of value and decline while hinting at the potential for renewal and imaginative reuse.
Curated by Jasper Sharp and Kate Smith.
📍 Kathleen Ryan – museum survey
📅 4 May – 12 October 2025
🏛 Nybruket Gallery & Tresliperiet, Kistefos
Photo: Tor S. Ulstein/KUNSTDOK
1. Deluxe, 2023. Courtesy of Christen Sveaas Art Collection
2. Pearls, 2017
3. Mother of Pearl, 2019
4. Hanging Fruit, 2018
5. Bacchante, 2017
6. Untitled (Chandelier), 2015. Courtesy of Collection of Beth Rudin DeWoody