Underworld II: Residue at Bærum Kunsthall is the second chapter in Underworld, forming the central panel in a larger triptych alongside Harvester (life) and the forthcoming Arcadia (death).
The idea for Underworld springs from the myth of Kowloon Walled City (c. 1945–1994), the densely populated enclave in Hong Kong that emerged without established forms of urban planning and administration. Over several decades, the area developed into a complex network of overlapping systems, informal structures, and improvised ways of living. What interested Evers, however, was not the city as a historical phenomenon, but what it left behind as an idea: a place where systems continue to function even as the larger context begins to break down.
Underworld is not primarily about darkness, evil, crime, or chaos. It is about persistence, about that which refuses to disappear: ideas that endure after belief has gone, architecture that remains standing after its function has ceased, value that persists after consensus has collapsed, and identity that continues after context has dissolved.
Underworld I: Fragments, shown at De Spelonk in The Hague earlier in 2026, consisted of a monumental-scale installation in which rock formations, remnants of metal structures, faint currents of air, a radiantly nostalgic floor, intermittent fog, hidden elements, and movements that seemed to defy their own logic came together in a fragmented whole. Layers normally held together by habit, narrative, and structure were pulled apart and made visible. Fragments marked the beginning of Underworld: the moment at which hidden layers emerge, and the search for the self is initiated through descent rather than ascent.
Underworld II: Residue approaches the underworld as a landscape of remaining systems: forms that continue to exist after the worlds that produced them have vanished. Through a fragmented architectural environment made up of shopfronts, transitions, storage systems, collages, sculptural structures, and a room placed at the top of the installation, a faintly recognizable world emerges. Everything still seems to retain its form, but the certainty of what these forms serve gradually begins to dissolve.
Frido Evers (b. 1980) holds a BA from the Academy for Art and Design in ’s-Hertogenbosch (NL) and an MFA from the Oslo National Academy of the Arts (NO). He lives and works in Bærum, Norway. Evers explores layers searching for moments of wonder, ambiguity and presence. Through collages, installations, sculptures, drawings, paintings, and, once in a while, a video work, he merges a wide variety of materials, places and realities into symbolic landscapes. He is fascinated by the tremendous need to create meaning within our existence.
Evers was previously represented by Galleri Maria Veie (NO) and later by CINNNAMON, (NL). His work has been exhibited internationally at venues including Fotomuseum Hilversum (NL), Neo LA (US), Galleri MELK (NO), Høyersten Contemporary (NO), Brenau University (US), Zürcher Gallery NY (US), Örebro Konsthall (SE), De Fabriek (NL) and Raid Projects, Los Angeles (US). His work has also been presented at international art fairs including Art Basel Hong Kong, Art Rotterdam, Art Amsterdam and Pulse Art Fair, New York