New museum building by Renzo Piano. To Be With Art Is All We Ask - Exhibition with works from the Astrup Fearnley Collection. Public opening 29.09.2012 Oslo, Norway

Astrup Fearnley Museet opens 29 September 2012 in a new building in Oslo designed by world renowned architect Renzo Piano. Located in a park along the waterfront of the city it will embody the collection of the museum, temporary exhibitions as well as a gift shop and cafe. Astrup Fearnley Museet is a privately owned museum, which collects and presents contemporary international art. The Museum was opened in 1993, but the Collection has a history that dates back to the 1960s. The Astrup Fearnley Collection has always concentrated on individual works and artists, rather than on movements or historical periods – a distinctive focus on acquiring major pieces of contemporary art that push the boundaries of the artistic canon. Over the last decade,the Museum has concentrated intensively on American contemporary artists – Jeff Koons, Richard Prince, Cindy Sherman, Matthew Barney and younger artists like Paul Chan, Frank Benson, Nate Lowman and Dan Colen, to name just a few. Most recently, the focus has been on works by important Japanese, Chinese, and Indian contemporary artists. The Museum’s aim is to collect and present major works by international contemporary artists in illuminating depth, but also in a dialog with the Norwegian art scene, and to have a real presence both in the city of Oslo and in the international art world.

Facts: Building cost: 650 mill NOK (80 million Euros)
Building area: 7000m2
Building time: 2009-2012
Construction: Double curved roof construction of glass