Jo Bentdal is a Norwegian art photographer. 

His debut was at the annual national art exhibition 'Høstutstillingen' in Oslo, the annual artists exhibition 'Den frie' in Copenhagen, a solo show at Shoot gallery, and a solo show at the Nordic Lights International Photo Festival in 2015/16 with the series 'Common sensibility'. Participated at AIPAD (Association of International Photography Art Dealers - 'the Photographs Show' in New York in 2017. Purchased by Strays foundation, the DNB art collection, the Art in schools program and private collectors. Represented by Shoot Gallery in Oslo.

 

 

Jo Bental presents works from two projects:

 

Common Sensibility 

 

Culture and its discontent. The format is traditional with references all the way back to the first psychological portraits of the renaissance. The models are representatives of the next generation of women, on the threshold to adulthood, casually dressed in their everyday attire, but instructed into a ceremonious and formal pose. Tension can be sensed. Tension between the young girls natural state and the strict constraints of the format, and a sense of confrontation with us as observers. 

 

They appear strong, but at the same time vulnerable. Can they trust us? Are the parameters set by tradition and pervious generations acceptable? Culture and its discontents. The artistic measures that are applied in these pictures support the impression of the authority and entitlement of the new generation, but they also represent a confinement to their nature. A source of limitation and unease. This generation of girls respect themselves, outperform the boys of their own age at school and expect to be heard, but what expectations are they subject to? And what will meet them when they are crossing the threshold to a professional life and have to grapple with the legacy of their predecessors?  In the long term, the generations to come will own the results of our endeavors, and hence: ultimately we all report to them.

 

 

The Law of the Instrument

 

“The law of the instrument” is a cognitive bias that involves an over-reliance on a familiar tool. As Abraham Maslow said in 1966, “I suppose it is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail.”

 

The series is an invitation to meta-cognition, discussing the risk of over confidence in our human analytical capabilities resulting in species-chauvinism.

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