Magne at the opening, January 25th
(Photo by Kunstgalleriet)

Magne’s new Beatles-inspired exhibition “Norwegian Wood Remix” opened at Kunstgalleriet in Stavanger yesterday, with 250 people in attendance. There’s a selection of photos from the event on the gallery’s Facebook page.

According to Stavanger Aftenblad the opening was hugely successfull, with all the artworks – 11 oil paintings, 2 monotypes and 2 lithos – being sold during Friday’s private view and Saturday’s official opening.

Which means that Magne sold art for around one million kroner this weekend.

“We’re sold out! That’s a new record. This almost never happens. It’s exceptional”, gallery manager Elin Halvorsen told the newspaper.

“This was a great reception, and not something you take for granted as an artist. I had my very first exhibition [“Maleri”] here in Stavanger. That was at Galleri Sølvberget way back in 1989. The last time I exhibited here was in 1995, so it was about time that we made this happen“, Magne told Rogalands Avis.

Magne is still busy working on the music for the upcoming Beatles movie, some of which he’ll record at Abbey Road in London in March:

“Beatles were the greatest when I was growing up. They were the inspiration when Paul and I started writing songs. Without Beatles there wouldn’t have been an a-ha. And now I’m currently composing music around what I heard as a kid. So this is a journey back in time for me, which ends up at Abbey Road Studios in March, where I’ll record my own music using the original Beatles equipment”, he said in a radio interview with NRK Rogaland on Friday.

Beatles is set to premiere on August 29th, but test screenings of a 2-hour raw cut of the movie will be held in Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim, Stavanger and Tromsø tomorrow.

“Norwegian Wood Remix” is open until February 16th, and the artworks can be seen on the gallery’s website.

New version of “Glass Onion”
(large version)

Kunstgalleriet in Stavanger recently announced that Magne will hold a Beatles-themed solo exhibition at the gallery next month.

“We are very proud that Magne Furuholmen is bringing a new solo exhibition to our gallery”, Elin Halvorsen at Kunstgalleriet told newspaper Rogalands Avis on December 18th.

“In London [and Oslo] he exhibited woodcuts, but this time he’s made twelve large oil paintings. The exhibition itself doesn’t have a title, but the theme of the exhibition is Norwegian Wood Remix“, Halvorsen said.

Magne will be present at the opening, which takes place on January 25th.

Meanwhile, some new photos of Magne appeared on Facebook before Christmas. Tini Flaat Mykland, who has continued working on her debut album with Magne this autumn, posted this photo from a recent get-together at an Oslo restaurant. And a local fruit pressing factory in Askim posted this photo of Magne and Simen Staalnacke (Moods of Norway). Apparently the duo created their own apple juice to give away to family and friends for Christmas.