Kristian Evju (b. 1980 Kongsberg, Norway) is a Norwegian artist based in London, UK, making exquisitely detailed pencil drawings and paintings. He received his BA (Hons) Painting and Drawing from Edinburgh College of Art in 2007, followed by a Masters degree in Fine Art at Chelsea College of Art in 2011. Evju is best known for making enigmatic and unpredictable graphite drawings and paintings based on project-specific historical archives. By transporting historical individuals, objects and settings into new contexts, the artist liberates them from their assigned narrative, thus provoking discussion around the limitations of representation and also the cultural associations attached to certain types of imagery.
Solo exhibitions include (Upcoming) Glyndebourne, East Sussex, UK (2027); Hinterlands, Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, London, UK (2025); Whispers, Galleri Semmingsen, Oslo, Norway (2025); The Other, Venet-Haus Galerie, Ulm, Germany (2023); Interventions, ASC Brixton Beneficiary, London, UK (2022); Interventions, Hamar Kunstforening, Hamar, Norway (2020); Perfect Strangers, Arusha Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland (2018); The Way I Remember You Now, Venet-Haus Galerie, Neu-Ulm, Germany (2017); Machinations, Galleri Semmingsen, Oslo, Norway (2017); Greenseland, Gulden Kunstverk, Steinberg, Germany (2016); Assemble: Dissemble, Telemark Art Museum, Notodden, Norway (2015); Lie me a River, Aalesund Kunsthall (KHÅK), Ålesund, Norway (2015); Dark River, Venet-Haus Galerie, Neu-Ulm, Germany (2014); Memoirs of the Other, Gallery 39K, Lahore, Pakistan (2013); Memoirs of the Other, Accesso Contemporary Art, Pietrasanta, Italy (2012); Limbus, Gulden Kunstverk, Steinberg, Germany (2010); Faber-Castell and the Years of Distraction, Drawing Centre, Oslo, Norway (2009); Kongsberg Kunstforening, Kongsberg, Norway (2008).
Group exhibitions include Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK (2026); Nordic Noir, British Museum, London, UK (2025); Rolling, Action... Paint, Vestfossen Kunstlaboratorium, Norway (2025); Atemkristall (Breathcrystal), Blyth Gallery, London, UK (2025); Falmouth Art Gallery, Drawing Projects Dundee, UK (2025); Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize, London, UK (2024); New Acquisitions, British Museum, London, UK (2024); Drawing Biennale, Drawing Room, London, UK (2024); Sommerutstilling Galleri Semmingsen, Oslo, Norway (2024); St Leonards-on-sea, Sussex, UK (2024); Where the Wild Roses Grow, Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, Schloss Görne, Germany (2023); 10 year anniversary, Venet-Haus Galerie, Ulm, Germany (2023); Lost Girls, Warchild Auction, Flowers Gallery, London, UK (2023); Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize, The Willis Museum and Sainsbury Galler, Basingstoke, UK (2023); Small is Beauttiful, Flowers Gallery, London, UK (2022); Derwent Art Prize, London/Paris (2022).
Highlights and Collections
Kristian Evju has received numerous international awards including the Figurative Art Prize by the Federation of British Artists in 2021, the Conté à Paris Drawing Prize at Griffin Gallery and the Painter-Stainers Prize for Drawing in 2016, and he represented Britain in the Prix Canson Works on Paper in 2015. Evju was also awarded the Debutante Award at the National Annual Autumn Exhibition of the Arts in Oslo, first prize at Juvenarte, and he won NorskArt as a student in 2007. He was also shortlisted for the 2024 trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize, London, UK, and was the recipient of the 2021 Figurative Art Prize Federation of British Artists, London.
Evju’s work can be found in various national and international collections such as the Lord’s MCC Museum, London; the British Museum, London; the Venet-Haus Fondation, Neu-Ulm, Germany; the Schirm Collection, Berlin, Germany, the ICart Collection, Oslo, Norway; the Buskerud Fylkeskommune, Norway; the Flesburg Kommune, Felsburg, Norway; Edinburgh College of Art Collection, UK; the Norges Bank, Oslo, Norway; ANSA collection, Oslo, Norway; the Rollag Kommune, Rolag, Norway.