Kari Dyrdal (b. 1952, Norway) is a textile artist known for monumental tapestries that exhibit a dual mastery of the cultural tradition of hand weaving alongside an intricately researched digital production. Dyrdal’s practice involves a deep investigation of memory, incorporating pattern, repetition, and structure as expressions of her ideas on aesthetics and cultural heritage. Working from her personal photography, Dyrdal considers the use of recognizable images as essential to her technique; expanding the potential of textile to communicate, she transforms her photography within the digital loom to create a juxtaposition between pictorial representation and abstraction. Dyrdal's textile works approach grand, architectural scale, and through her meticulous and premeditated digital process and aesthetic—the tightly packed pixels and fine-tuned mechanized control of weaving—an intimacy emerges, a humanity that withstands and is heightened by the technological process.
Drydal serves as a professor in the Faculty of Art, Music, and Design at the University of Bergen. She holds a degree in Textile Art from Bergens Kunsthåndverksskole (1977) and completed her postgraduate studies at the Croydon College of Art and Technology in London (1978). Her work has been exhibited at the National Museum, Oslo, the KODE/Vestlandske Kunstindustrimuseum, Bergen, and the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, among others.
KARI DYRDAL
b. 1952, Norway
EDUCATION
1978
Textile, Postgraduate, Croydon College of Art and Technology, London, UK
1977
Textile, Bergens Kunsthåndverksskole, Bergen, Norway
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024
Plain Weave – Rewoven, Format Oslo, Oslo, Norway
2019
KRAFT Bergen, Bergen, Norway
2016
Binära Koder Almgrens Sidenveveri, Stockholm, Sweden
Oseana Kunst og Kultursenter, Os, Norway
2015
Bomuldsfabriken Kunsthall, Arendal, Norway
2013
Bømlo Kunstlag, Bømlo, Norway
2012
Format Oslo, Oslo, Norway
Kunstnerforbundet Oslo, Oslo, Norway
Salhus Tricotagefabrik, Bergen, Norway
2011
Ørsta Kunstlag, Ørsta, Norway
2010
Hå Gamle Prestegaard, Stavanger, Norway
Osterøy Museum, Gjerstad, Norway
2007
Kunstnerforbundet, Oslo, Norway
2000
Kunstnerforbundet, Oslo, Norway
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025
The Fabulous Fem, Taste Contemporary, London, UK
2021
Høstutstillingen, Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo, Norway
Odd and Even: A Collection, Taste Contemporary, Maison Louis Carré, Bazoches-sur-Guyonne, France
2020
26 Kunstnere, 26 År (26 Artists, 26 Years), Bomuldsfabriken Kunsthall, Arendal, Norway
2019
Det Lyser i Vann (It Shines in Water), Trondhjems Kunstforening, Trondheim, Norway
Five Cubed, Taste Contemporary, Geneva, Switzerland
Krefter (Forces), KODE, Bergen, Norway
Krefter (Forces), SKMU Sørlandets Kunstmuseum, Kristiansand, Norway
2018
125 Gjenstander, Valgt, Fortellinger (125 Objects, Selected, Stories), Nordenfjeldske Kunstindustrimuseum, Trondheim, Norway
Forces de la Nature: Three Norwegian Artists, National Ceramics Museum of Sèvres, Paris, France
Ode til en Vaskeklut, Hymne til en Tiger (Ode to a Dishrag, Hymn to a Tiger), Kunsthall Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway
2017
Det Store Mjuke Øyeblikk på Finnskogen (The Big Tender Moment at Finnskogen), Finnskog Ustillingen, Svullrya, Norway
Multiply, Hå Gamle Prestegard, Nærbø, Norway
Ode til en Vaskeklut, Hymne til en Tiger (Ode to a Dishrag, Hymn to a Tiger), NTK Norwegian Textile Artists Anniversary Exhibition, Kunstnerforbundet, Oslo, Norway
Borøy Kunsthandel, Borøy, Norway
Kunstgarasjen, Bergen, Norway
2016
Høstutstillingen Oslo (Oslo Autumn Exhibition), Statens Kunstutstilling, Oslo, Norway
2015
Myke Monumenter (Soft Monuments), KODE, Bergen, Norway
100% Jacquard, Vilnius, Lithuania
2014
SABOTasje (SABOTage), Innvik, Norway
2013
Tusen Tråder (A Thousand Threads), Lillehammer Kunstmuseum, Lillehammer, Norway
2012
Vevring, Norway
2011
Graft, Galleri Format, Oslo, Norway
Kunsthåndverk 2011, Nasjonalmuseet, Oslo, Norway
New Works, Visningsrommet, USF Bergen, Bergen, Norway
Shot Through, Hordaland Kunstsenter, Bergen, Norway
2010
Essens (Essence), Kunstbanken Hamar, KUBE, Ålesund, Norway
Fourth Riga International Textile and Fiber Art Triennial, Riga, Latvia
International Textile Triennial, Łódź, Poland
Norske Kunsthåndverkere (Norwegian Craftspeople), Nasjonalmuseet Oslo + Et Utvalg (Traveling)
PUBLIC COMMISSIONS
2021
Verdal Bo-og Behandlingssenter, Verdal, Norway
2020
Politiets Nasjonale Beredskapssenter, Taraldrud Ski (Competition)
Bømlo City Hall, Bremnes, Norway
2019
Øygarden Lokalmedisinske Senter, Straume, Norway
2018
University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
2017
Gjerdrum Bo og Omsorg, Gjerdrum, Norway
Norwegian Embassy, Tehran, Iran
2016
Gartnermarka Omsorg +, Bergen, Norway
Norwegian Embassy, New Delhi, India
Gard Forsikring, Arendal, Norway
2015
University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway (Competition)
Nye Bjønnes Sykehjem, Nøtterøy, Norway
2014
HiB, Høgskolen, Bergen, Norway
TUI, Mein Schiff 3. International Corporate Art
Kulturfabrikken Sortland, Sortland, Norway
2012
The Grieg Hall, Edvard Grieg Square, Bergen, Norway (Terminal)
2009
Politihøgskolen, Kongsvinger, Norway
Nidaros DPS, Trondheim, Norway
2004
Søreide Sykehjem, Bergen, Norway
2002
Akerselva Sykehjem, Oslo, Norway (Competition)
1998
Polarmiljøsenteret, Tromsø, Norway
Terminalhallen NSB, Gardermobanen, Oslo, Norway
1992
Nysæter Church, Stord, Norway
1991
Bjørnstierne Bjørnsons Plass, DNS, Bergen, Norway (Competition)
1989
Eidfjord Kommunehus, Eidfjord, Norway
1987
St. Magnus Cathedral, Orkney, Scotland, UK (Competition)
COLLECTIONS
KODE/Vestlandske Kunstindustrimuseum, Bergen, Norway
Kunstindustrimuseet, Oslo, Norway
Kunstsilo/Sørlandets Kunstmuseum, Kristiansand, Norway
Museum of Art, Riga, Latvia
Museum of Fine Art, Boston, MA
Nasjonalmuseet, Oslo, Norway
Nordenfjeldske Kunstindustrimuseum, Trondheim, Norway
Norsk Kulturråd
Norsk Trikotasjemuseum, Bergen, Norway
Telenors Art Collection
AWARDS
Kunsthåndverk Prize from BKH
Landsforbundet Norsk Form, Norway
Oslo Kommunes Architecture Prize, Oslo, Norway (Gardermoen Line)
Sølvmedalje 13, International Textile Triennial, Łódź, Poland
Special Prize, Latvian Art Museum, Riga, Latvia
BIBLIOGRAPHY
2011
Statens Kunstfond
