Bjarne Melgaard grew up in Oslo, where he studied visual arts. In the 90s he broke into the art world limelight with neo-expressionist work permeated by desire and fear. He depicts a chaotic world of sado-masochism, drugs, homosexuality and perverse violence, in which words, paintings, drawings and sculptures form installations that immerse us in an utterly overwhelming experience. In these installations Melgaard presents himself as an outsider and homosexual. Since 2009 he has been living and working in New York and although he no longer fits the romantic image of the lonely artist in his studio, his oeuvre remains an obsessive, incessant stream of ideas about social exclusion and the need for individual freedom.
