PRESS RELEASE Kenneth Alme My Tarp Has Sprung a Leak Rod Barton, London 18 October – 22 November 2014 Private view 17 October 18:00 – 20:30

Rod Barton, London is pleased to present, My Tarp Has Sprung a Leak , the f irst UK solo exhibit ion of Norwegian art ist Kenneth Alme . The apparent redundancy of a tarpaul in with holes is a key theme within Alme’s latest body of work and is ref lected in the shows t it le , borrowed from Nirvana’s seminal Something in the Way . Alme cites the tarpaul ins presence in popular culture as a constant trope in My Tarp Has Sprung a Leak ; from Laura Palmer’s makeshift buria l shroud in the opening scenes of Twin Peaks to the father’s use of a tarpaul in to protect his family in Cormack McCarthy’s The Road. In each of these cases an object that is tradit ional ly used as a protect ive tool fa i ls to provide the safety desired: “He pushed away the plast ic tarpaul in and raised himself in the st inking robes and blankets and looked towards the east for any s ign of l ight but there was none.”1 Alme, however, sees possibi l i ty in the broken plast ic sheeting and it has become an invaluable tool in the production of his work. Working with each unstretched canvas placed on top of a blue tarp, paint and pigment washes blend from previous uses, each work leaking into one-another. The tarps themselves are then grouped together in fours and stretched, l ike a canvas, over wooden stretchers . Through this process Alme uses the tarp f irst as a production tool before elevat ing its status to that of a paint ing, this playful approach to media has become a key element of Alme’s pract ice in recent years . Kenneth Alme (b.1981, Tønsberg, Norway) l ives in and works in Oslo, Norway. He graduated with both a BA and MA from National Academy Of Fine Arts/ Kunstakademiet , Oslo and Städelschule, Frankfurt and has exhibited widely throughout Scandinavia and Europe. My Tarp Has Sprung a Leak i s Alme’s f irst exhibit ion in the UK.

1 Cormack McCarthy, The Road, Picador London, 2006.

Kenneth Alme Untitled, 2014 Oil, acrylics, marker and primer on cotton canvas 190 x 135 cms

Kenneth Alme Untitled, 2014 Oil, acrylics, marker and primer on cotton canvas 190 x 135 cms

Kenneth Alme Untitled, 2014 Oil, acrylics, marker and primer on cotton canvas 190 x 135 cms

Kenneth Alme Untitled, 2014 Oil, acrylics, marker and primer on cotton canvas 190 x 135 cms

Kenneth Alme

My Tarp Has Sprung a Leak (Blue), 2014 Oil, acrylics, marker and primer on plastic drop sheets 135 x 100 cms

KENNETH ALME | CV Born 1981, Tønsberg, Norway Lives and works in Oslo, Norway Educat ion: 2010 Masters National Academy Of Fine Arts/ Kunstakademiet, Oslo, NO 2010 Statliche Hochschule für Bildende Kunste, Städelschule, Frankfurt Am Main, DE 2008 Bachelor National Academy Of Fine Arts/ Kunstakademiet, Oslo, NO       Selected Solo and Two Person Exhibit ions 2014 Everybody Is Talking About The Stormy Weather, Noplace, Oslo, NO 2013 Flexure, with Felix Kultau, Grünerløkka Kunsthall, Oslo, NO 2012 How To Recognize Different Types Of Trees From A Distance Quite Far Away, Opelvillen,

Rüsselsheim, DE Horizont (Every Precaution Is Still Necessary), Galleri BOA, Oslo, NO

2011 Walking In A Sea of Clouds, One Night Only, Oslo, NO 2010 Moody Noon, Dortmund Bodega, Oslo, NO 2009 Like an Ice Cube In a Sink, Gallery 21:25, Oslo, NO 2008 Rub Rabbit Run, One Night Only, Oslo, NO 2007 Omenås Music Festival, Valldal, NO 2006 Fire Made Me, Galleri 21:24, Oslo, NO Selected Group Exhibit ions 2014 In a Lonely Place, Kunstmuseet Kube, Ålesund, NO

Overbeckstrasse, Fiebach, Minninger, Cologne, DE 2013 Holtegata 8, Curated by Peter Amdam and Irene Sævik, Oslo, NO

The City is Empty, Curated by Kristian Skylstad, Kronika, Bytom, PL Nature Laughs Last, Galerie Martina Detterer, Frankfurt Am Main, DE

2012 The Sun Sets At 18:58, Kenneth`s Backyard, Oslo, NO Out Of The Wild-Into The Woods, Kenneth`s Studio, Oslo, NO 2011 If I Could Dream, Stranda, Sunnmøre, NO

Time and Change Are Connected To Place, Aalesunds Kunstforening, Ålesund, NO 2010 Hotch Potch, LX Factory, Lisboa, PT

Spectre, Galleri Christian Torp, Oslo, NO Strange Age Art Festival 2010, Podium, Oslo, NO Final Year Exhibition MA, Stenersenmuseet, Oslo, NO Men Paint Women Faint, One Night Only, Oslo, NO Rundgang, Städelschule, Frankfurt, DE

2009 Sympathy For The Devil, Samtidsmuseet, Oslo, DE You Know These Days Painted By Umbrellas, Samtidsmuseet, Oslo, DE

2008 Final Year Exhibition BA, Stenersenmuseet, Oslo, DE 2007 The Yearbook Show, UKS, Oslo, DE 2006 The Summer Destruction Show, Seilduken, Oslo, DE

Academy in Exile, UKS, Oslo, DE 2005 Defined/ Undefined, Kongsvinger Kunstforening, NO

Curatoria l Projects 2012 The Sun Sets at 18:58, Kenneth’s Backyard, Oslo, NO 2011 If I Could Dream, Stranda, Sunnmøre, NO Col lect ions Collection Arne Austrheim Reviews, Publ icat ions and Art ic les 2014 Daniel Kunitz, ‘Kenneth Alme’, Modern Painters, March