About Arild Kristo

Arild Kristo began at Art Center School in Los Angeles in 1962. He was admitted as an “advanced student” in the fourth semester on the strength of a portfolio he had mailed in.

In 1986–87 he studied method acting at Statens Filmsenter and spent a period of study with Professor Marketa Kimbrell at New York University.

In 1962 the Museum of Modern Art in New York, through Edward Steichen, acquired Tegneren på Montmartre (The Artist in Montmartre) for its study collection. The same year Kristo won first prize in the Norwegian and Scandinavian finals of Trygg Trafikk’s photography competition.

In 1963 he won third prize in World Press Photo for the photo story Manfred by the Wall – The Little Boy from Checkpoint Charlie. The story was published in LOOK Magazine (New York), Paris Match, Quick Magazine (Berlin) and in magazines in 17 other countries. The photo story De ti bud (The Ten Commandments) was published in magazines in 16 countries.

In 1962 Kristo founded Manité International together with the photographers Bob Robinson and Dan Young.

In 1965 Kristo made the short film Undergrunnen. Two years later came Kristoball, which in 1968 was selected for the Oberhausen film festival.

In 1995 Kristoball was chosen by an international jury to represent Norway as “one of the most interesting short films made in the last 100 years”. It was shown at the Films Centenary Jubilee during the Festival du court métrage in Clermont-Ferrand, 27 January – 4 February 1995.

The feature film Eddie & Suzanne was made in 1969–75. In 2011 it was restored by the Norwegian Film Institute and the National Library of Norway, and released on DVD in May that year.

In 1987–91 he made the short animated film Miraklet.

Arild Kristo also designed numerous book covers and film posters. He was part of the founding of Pax Forlag and designed the publisher’s first 46 book covers.

In 1966 he received the Mark for Good Design (now Innovation Norway) for three book covers for Pax Forlag. In 2017 he was selected as one of 100 important designers in Norwegian design of the last century.

“Kristo’s graphic expression was something entirely new in Norway at the time, and his work was defining for the publisher, the paperback and the Norwegian peace movement.”

See the book covers