.NO, a non-profit gallery opening on the Lower East Side on Feb 4th, is proud to launch with an inaugural series of three month-long exhibitions presenting the work of 28 contemporary artists from Norway. Structured around the colors of the Norwegian flag, the shows explore symbolism and psychological connotations inherent in each of these hues. Knowing that the Nordic region is often associated with coldness and melancholy, it seems apt to start the series with musings on the color BLUE (Feb 4-March 3).

Selected for this first chapter are dreamlike scenarios by accomplished painters Frank Brunner and André von Morisse, along with Sol Kjøk’s large-scale parables of the human condition. While the spontaneous style of the 5-member artists’ collective Tegneklubben is strikingly different from Åsil Bøthun’s poetic renderings, they all investigate peculiar aspects of the Norwegian psyche. Kurt Johannessen, a pioneer of the Norwegian performance art scene, contributes textual pieces and artist books, while Mikkel Wettre and Stefan Schröder will create site-specific wall works. In the window, a piece by Rune Olsen, whose provocative animal sculptures are permanently on display at NYC’s Museum of Sex.