Anne Katrine Dolven
A K Dolven, full name Anne Katrine Dolven (born in Oslo in 1953), is a Norwegian visual artist. She works across painting, photography, film, sound, sculpture, installation and performance. Her own biography names Oslo and Lofoten as her working locations. Encounters between people and natural forces, and between people themselves, connect these varied works. (SNL; Artist’s archive)
Background and artistic development
Dolven studied art in Paris and Oslo. Early landscape abstractions gave way to more reduced painting during the 1980s. Film and video underpinned her international breakthrough. (SNL)
She settled in Berlin in the late 1980s and later worked in England, while keeping a home and studio in Lofoten. The National Museum’s 2025 retrospective amasone brought together over 80 works. It highlighted northern Norway’s light, snow, natural sounds and horizons, alongside bodily presence through breath, voice and fingertip marks in paint. (National Museum)
Film, sound and sculpture
amazon (2005) is a silent 16 mm film lasting 1 minute 34 seconds. Close views of an archer’s body show alternating tension and rest. Physical action meets the film’s framing and rhythm. (Artist’s archive)
In the sound installation JA as long as I can (2013), Dolven’s voice meets that of poet John Giorno. Her archive specifies 22 minutes and a vinyl record, turntable, amplifier and two loudspeakers. The work thus has defined sonic and physical components. (Artist’s archive)
seng (2019) is made of Fauske marble. At its 2024 presentation at the Vigeland Museum, visitors could sit or lie on it. Touch and the body’s encounter with stone become part of experiencing time and natural material. (Vigeland Museum)
Prints, editions and documentation
The photogravure Headlights (2003) reworks an Edvard Munch motif. BORCH Editions specifies Somerset 300 g paper, sheet size 67 x 95 cm, plate size 45 x 74.5 cm and an edition of 24. This edition is listed as signed and numbered by the artist. (BORCH Editions)
When I leave the world behind (2006) is a set of 24 photogravures based on blurred Polaroids of shoe soles. The publisher specifies an edition of 12, sheets measuring 57.5 x 42.5 cm, and signing and numbering. Motif, individual sheet and complete set therefore need precise recording. (BORCH Editions)
Identification and condition
For prints, compare title, technique, paper, dimensions, numbering and publisher with the relevant edition. A film still, exhibition poster or catalogue leaf must be described according to its actual format. For film and sound works, document any certificate, storage medium, equipment list and display instructions alongside the ownership history.
Examine works on paper for light-related changes, stains, pressure damage and framing traces. Describe a painting’s support and surface separately. Photograph signatures, labels and backs in detail, and connect gallery receipts or exhibition information to the specific work.
See also
Read more about artist signatures, provenance and ownership history.
