10 Must-Visit Contemporary Art Galleries In Grünerløkka

Established in September 2011, Galleri Schæffer’s Gate 5 is an independent art and performance space in a particularly appropriate setting, as the street on which it resides was named after Henrik Ernst Schäffer – a Norwegian teacher who set up a grant in the 1800s to support young artists. The gallery resides on the ground floor of a 1890s tenement building, and features two exhibition spaces dedicated to the presentation of unique art demonstrative of the spirit of international creativity. The gallery is run by a creative team that includes owner, musician, and avant-garde filmmaker Mark Steiner (originally from New York), and curators Irene Christensen and Grete Marstein, also visual artists themselves.

A new addition to Grünerløkka’s contemporary art community, Galleri Vulkan is located in a modern building close to Oslo’s beautiful dance performance hall, Dansens Hus. The gallery presents around 12 to 15 solo and group exhibitions each year, with a focus on young, up-and-coming artists alongside established mid-career creatives. Open to all forms of artistic genres and expressions, Galleri Vulkan’s only stipulation is that the artworks exhibited in its space should demonstrate reflection, provocation, curiosity and contemplation, and have the goal of encouraging dialogue. Galleri Vulkan represents artists including Cicilie Risåsen, whose observation-based art is a mixture of painting and photography, and painter Kristin Romberg whose art explores the role of women in society.