Nathalie Djurberg and Hans Berg

Nathalie Djurberg and Hans Berg are a Swedish-born artist duo. They have been working together since 2004.

Early life and education
Nathalie Djurberg was born in 1978 in Lysekil, Sweden. She studied art at Folkuniversitetet and Hovedskous Art School in Gothenburg, before earning her Master of Fine Arts from Malmö Art Academy in 2002. Hans Berg, who was born in 1978 in Rättvik, is a self-taught musician. He primarily focuses on electronic organic sounds using synthesizers. Djurberg and Berg met in Berlin in 2004 and have been working together ever since.

Work
Nathalie Djurberg and Hans Berg, an artistic partnership established in 2004, have created narratives encompassing symbolism and emotional depth, drawing from allegorical myths and vivid, nightmarish imagery. Notable works include "Tiger Licking Girl's Butt" (2004), "We Are Not Two, We Are One" (2008), "The Parade" (2011), "The Secret Garden" (2015), "Worship" (2016), and "Dark Side of the Moon" (2017).

Their first large-scale installation, "Turn Into Me" (2008), debuted at Fondazione Prada, was curated by Germano Celant. This installation was subsequently exhibited at the Prada Transformer in Seoul, a temporary structure designed by Rem Koolhas and OMA. Djurberg and Berg also worked in virtual and augmented reality space, creating "It Will End in Stars" (2018) with Acute Art and "This Is It" (2019) for Apple [AR]T Walk, curated in partnership with the New Museum.

Their collaborations have been globally exhibited. In 2009, their installation "The Experiment" was presented at the 53rd Venice Biennial "Making Worlds," earning them the Silver Lion for Best Emerging Artists.

In 2012, their installation at the New Museum showcased life-sized sculptures of over eighty bird species crafted from wire, foam, silicone, painted fabric, and clay.

Their oeuvre is included in collections of institutions such as the Fondazione Prada, Milan; Goetz Collection, Munich; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; Moderna Museet, Stockholm; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; and Whitechapel, London. They are represented internationally by Tanya Bonakdar, Giò Marconi, and Lisson Gallery. Exhibitions of their sculptures and animated films accompanied by hypnotic soundtracks have taken place at the Museum Frieder Burda, Salon Berlin.

Their works have been featured in major institutions, including The Walker Arts Center and The New Museum in the U.S., The Schirn Kunsthalle in Germany, Kistefos Museum in Norway, and Moderna Museet in Stockholm, Sweden. Permanent public sculptures are displayed at Borås Konstmuseum and Wanås sculpture park.

In 2020, their work "Crocodile, egg, man" sold for a record 16.3 million SEK, the highest sum for a contemporary Swedish artwork.

In 2022, Italian luxury brand Miu Miu invited the duo to present an artistic intervention at the 2022 Autumn Winter collection showcase at Palais d'Iéna. Following this successful collaboration, they launched a jewelry collection with Miu Miu, featuring Ísadóra Bjarkardóttir Barney as the face of their campaigns.

Artistic style
Incorporating elements of animation, sculpture, and sound, Nathalie Djurberg and Hans Berg construct scenarios rich in psychological tension, exploring both human and primal desires. Djurberg, since 2001, has cultivated a unique filmmaking style marked by clay animation, through which she articulates fundamental instincts such as jealousy, vengeance, avarice, submission, and lust. Since 2004, Djurberg has been working as an artistic duo with her collaborator, musician and composer Hans Berg, complementing Djurberg's animations and installations with his atmospheric sound effects and entrancing musical scores.

Djurberg and Berg frequently construct mentally disconcerting environments in their films and sculptural installations. Their main characters, often depicted as girls or young women, are described by The New York Times as engaging in a spectrum of malevolent activities. These range from mild deceit and amicable torture, to curiously innocuous bestiality, and at the extreme, murder and chaos.

Selected exhibitions

 * 2023: The Skin Is a Thin Container. Musee D'art Contemporain De Lyon, France.
 * 2023: A Pancake Moon. Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, Los Angeles.
 * 2021: A Moon Wrapped in Brown Paper. Prada Rong Zhai, Shanghai.
 * 2021: This Is Heaven. C3A Centro De Creacion Contemporanea De Andalucia, Cordoba, Spain.
 * 2021: Underneath. The Nordic House, Reykjavik.
 * 2021: The Soft Spot. Gió Marconi, Milan
 * 2020: Flowers in The Attic. Kistefos Museum, Norway.
 * 2019: One Last Trip to The Underworld. Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York.
 * 2019: A Journey Through Mud and Confusion with Small Glimpses of Air. Schirn, Frankfurt.
 * 2019: A Journey Through Mud and Confusion with Small Glimpses of Air. Museo D'Art Moderna E Contemporanea Di Trento E Rovereto, Rovereto, Italy.
 * 2018: Delights of an Undirected Mind. Baltimore Museum of Art.
 * 2018: A Journey Through Mud and Confusion with Small Glimpses of Air. Moderna Museet, Stockholm.
 * 2018: Dark Side of The Moon. Stavanger Art Museum (Must), Stavanger, Norway.
 * 2016: Flickers of Day and Night. ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum, Aarhus.
 * 2016: In Dreams. The Wanås Foundation, Knislinge.
 * 2015: The Secret Garden. Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne.
 * 2015: A Thief Caught in the Act. Gió Marconi, Milan.
 * 2014: Maybe This is a Dream. Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne.
 * 2013: The Black Pot. Garage Center for Contemporary Culture, Moscow.
 * 2012: The Parade. Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
 * 2012: The Parade. New Museum, New York.
 * 2012: A World of Glass. Camden Arts Centre.
 * 2011: Snakes Knows It's Yoga. Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam.
 * 2010: Snakes Knows it's Yoga. Gió Marconi, Milan.
 * 2009: Fare Mondi / Making Worlds. 53rd Venice Biennale, Venice.
 * 2008: Turn into Me. Fondazione Prada, Milan, Italy.
 * 2005: Why Do I Have This Urge to Do These Things Over and Over Again? Gió Marconi, Milan.

Awards and recognition

 * Carnegie Art Award (2007)
 * Silver Lion of the 53rd Biennale, Venice (2009)
 * Cairo Biennale Prize, 12th International Cairo Biennale, Cairo (2010)