Margaret Abeshu Leversby, Reality is Radical, Kunsthall Oslo, Oslo
Abeshu Leversby revealed a world where allure and unease exist side by side. Her sculptures, built from alloy wheels, slaughterhouse hooks, and synthetic hair, carried an unexpectedly sexy charge, their forms shifting between elegance and danger. Glam bows of shaped felted wool softened and complicated the industrial materials around them. Prints created directly on foam showed sunsets dissolving into seductive, almost post-apocalyptic atmospheres where ghostlike figures lingered. Abeshu invites viewers to sense what is approaching, blending desire, doubt, and ideological tension into a compelling emotional landscape.
Sampson Addae, Relics and Warnings, Kunstnerforbundet, Oslo
Sampson Addae’s exhibition at Kunstnerforbundet (Artists’ Association) transformed used clothes collected in Oslo and Ghana into intimate, living scenery. Torn, knotted, painted, and reshaped, the garments carried a raw, physical presence, as if each fold and crease held a memory. His large installation Kraken hung from the ceiling and spilled across the floor in soft, powerful waves filling the space with quiet energy. Each piece bore traces of sweat, perfume, labor, and memory, evoking personal and shared histories. The show invited us to pause, reflect, and sense how our stories endure in the materials that once held them.
Sandra Mujinga, Sløyfe (Bow tie/Loop), Den Frie Centre of Contemporary Art, Copenhagen
What struck me most in this exhibition was the way Mujinga approached scale and materiality to unsettle the viewer’s sense of presence. The sculptures appeared tender in their surfaces and textures, yet held an undeniable strength that pushed back against the space around them. This tension became a quietly dystopic undertone, as if the works originated from a parallel world that is both familiar and strangely altered. The steel and textile sculptures comprising And My Body Carried All of You (2024) felt simultaneously protective and alert, carrying a mix of vulnerability and power. It was an experience that lingered, not through spectacle but the uncanny emotional charge embedded in the materials themselves.
– Damien Ajavon is a textile artist based in Norway. Their practice merges diverse craft traditions with contemporary approaches to textiles.
For this year’s contributions to the Advent Calendar, see here.
