Istvan Virag: Polymorphic transformations

Featuring new camera-based works and video-installation, the exhibition is a visual inquiry into scientific and speculative scenarios of how the rapid advancement in the fields of biotechnology, computational imaging and artificial intelligence enable transformative applications across a broad range of fields such as medicine, agriculture, environmental science and research.

The invention of the gene-editing system CRISPR-Cas9 represents a breakthrough in genetic engineering, allowing scientists to precisely edit the DNA of living organisms. This increasingly sophisticated toolbox enables mankind to transform genes, consequently altering living organisms and potentially the workings of ecosystems that have been finetuned by millions of years of evolution. Will these technologies be the solution for reversing the alarming trends of environmental degradation, for the preservation of biodiversity, for sustaining a well-functioning global ecosystem? Could they help us to achieve a significant increase and diversification of agricultural yields to ensure food security for global population that is expected to exceed ten billion in the coming decades? How can we ensure that all this knowledge and innovation will benefit everyone, and not only shareholders of a handful of global corporations?

This exhibition is the first iteration of a series of new works concerning biotechnology, inspired by lab visits and conversations with researchers & scientists working in this field. Thanks to Anders Kristian Krabberød (UiO), Gregor D. Gilfillan (Norwegian Sequencing Centre, OUS), Celina Alexandria Kostich-Nilsen (UiO), Stine Lexberg (Onna Greens), Sjur Sandgrind (NIBIO), Staffan Snis (Butong), Tage Thorstensen (NIBIO), Oda Eline Sandmo Ånesland (NMBU), Rafik Halabi (GruveGrønt) and Bionano Genomics Inc. for the generous help and valuable insight. Very special thanks to Christopher Rodriguez whose guidance and generous contribution to the project has been of enormous help and inspiration.

Istvan Virag (b. 1982, Hungary) is based in Oslo and works interdisciplinary, investigating the social, economic and ecological aspects of industrial and technological development, globalisation and mobility – and the impact of these on society and the personal sphere of human life. Combining documentary, camera-based approach and conceptual methods, he is engaged in topics that are re-shaping the world and us humans.

Virag studied photography at Bilder Nordic School of Photography, Oslo; holds a BFA from Oslo National Academy of the Arts; an MSc in economics from University of Pécs, Hungary. Virag’s work has been presented at various exhibitions, amongst others at Statens 131. Kunstutstilling at Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo; Podium, Oslo; Studio 17, Stavanger; Greenlightdistrict 2021 at Skiens Kunstforening, Skien; New Visions—The Henie Onstad Triennial for Photography and New Media, Oslo; Coast Contemporary 2023, Lofoten and recently at Jugendstilsenteret og KUBE, Ålesund.

The exhibition is kindly supported by:
Billedkunstnernes Vederlagsfond and Norsk Fotografisk Fond