"Pale heart" by Bjørn Ransve

Bjørn Ransve

Pale heart

1975, oil on  canvas

60 x 50 cm

When all is subtracted, what is left but the object itself? Is there hope in a brutal, grey horizon? Or does it just bring structure to the painting? Structure versus pure organic form. The pale, transparent colors surrounding the object are giving off indications that it is somehow at rest, even when free floating. The background brings up associations to  works of Rothko. But the background has a function to the composition: to embed and contrast the heart. Hide and conceal.

But the heart – it is left lifeless. It is frozen in time and space. What a mare for an organ that should be warm, pumping, pouring red blood into the body. Giving restless, vibrant life. Now, at rest against colors of earth and maybe fog. Is there a sky, a higher dimension, potential of salvation and freedom? And, there is earth: death and the potential for new life. No matter how barren the land might seem. So there is hope. A heart gives hope. Standing out at the center of the painting and at the same time dissolving into the background. A dissolving, pale heart? A heart without the function of a heart. Faint, distant but with a strong presence. The painting of a heart, heart of the painting, the heart of a painter? Attempting to fix form and idea and expelling feelings and emotions. Are the composition an expression of a barren artistic landscape inhabited only by the visiting spirit of the painter? Is this the modern reflection on "The scream" by Munch?  Is it a self-portrait or a portrait of despair of how our attitude towards our surrounding has left it both pale and exhausted, passing the pain on to the observer? 

Beat art: Dimitri Grachis

Dimitri Grachis, "Half Moon Bay", 1951

Espen Dietrichson - take a closer look

Return to the Unknown #1, 2013, 113 x 140 cm

Visit gallery Haaken for more pictures at: http://www.gallerihaaken.com/kunstnere/espen-dietrichson

Peder Balke painting under the hammer in Oslo

Yet another Peder Balke under the hammer: Older, modern and contemporary art auction June 16th at Blomqvist, Oslo

Båt i opprørt hav

Oil on paper/ board.

10x12,5 cm 

Unsigned

Estimate:

22 660 - 28 325 EUR

Takashi Murakami "Earthly Desires" at Art Basel

• Good pictutre stream from artbasel#TakashiMurakami(@takashipom), 

• ‘Ensō: Earthly Desires’, 2015 via @GaleriePerrotin | Galleries 2015 #ArtBasel

Get involved!

The number of global visitiors are rapidly rising!

Apart from the joy of art, my idea is to contribute to cross-over from art scenes.
Help me grow this work by sharing likes, comments, contributions and improvements.

Some pictures are given a better exposure than the blog allows for at:
http://kristianfolkman4.wix.com/observearts-gallery

Good resources are available from the pop-up menu (to your right when you view blog)?

But most important of all: enjoy arts! 

Here is another favorite of mine, previously published in this blog:

Pink ape by Norwegian artist Bjørn Ransve

Beat art: Michael Bowen

Michel Bowen, 1961. Detail from painting.

Read more about this artist: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Bowen_%28artist%29 

Anish Kapoor turns Versailles up side down - and gets things just right

What a show! 

Listen to Monocle Radio: Takeshi Murata at Stavanger Kunsthall, Norway

Listen to journalist and curator Francesca Gavin discussing Takeshi Murata’s retrospective exhibit at Stavanger Kunsthall:

http://monocle.com/radio/shows/the-monocle-arts-review/71/

Exhibit is presented in English at Kunsthall's pages: 

http://kunsthallstavanger.no/en/exhibitions/takeshi-murata

Intimacy and distance - man and nature.

Bjørn Ransve

Brown-red ape.  1995. 

Oil on board, 122 x 99 cm

How would you measure the distance between an ape to a human? What to measure, what metrics? How close are we to our primal ancestors? Is that a relevant question to the theme at present? Resemblance or distance could be depending on the situation. This cage is different. What if we as a naked individual are left, alone, under the eye of the observer, naked, stripped down to our basic existence? All integrity removed, our gaze introvert, yet seeking something outside. Yes, I have seen the gaze in the depicted primal before, it was on the face of a tormented human. What we expect to fill out the discomfort of pure existence is gone. Context is the color of feelings, not that of the rational. The core of our own identity, so stripped of everything that helps us constitutes it.  The jungle gone, left are structures vanishing in rough strokes of vibrant colors, impressions beyond that of the rational. A productive state of shard feeling – the fragile existence we cling to as primates in various states of evolution. This state of pure being establish a bridge over which we are invited to an intimate, yet rationally distanced encounter with – “our selves”.

And by stepping back the monochrome, dissolving unfinished expression leaves the primate naked and fragile to our looks. Intimate, even at a distance.  

For a more extensive discussions on the theme"The body: the meat and the spirit: becoming animal" based on pictures by Francisc Backon, please visit:

http://www.alexalienart.com/bacon%20bled%20bare.htm

A Norwegian love story - at Astrup Fearnley Museum

Love Story – Works from Erling Kagge’s Collection 22.05. – 27.09.2015

Astrup Fearnley Museet in Oslo is running the exhibition “Love Story - Works from Erling Kagge’s Collection”. Kagge, an adventurer in sports, turns out to be a dedicated art collector. At Astrup Fearnely he shows off his private collection. The exhibit has caused some debate about “what is and is not art” in Norway. It features a selection of works from Kagges collection.More at:

http://afmuseet.no/en/utstillinger/2015/love-story

Keep an eye on Sverre Koren Bjertnæs in 2015!

I personally had the pleasure of bringing 5 small paintings by Norwegian artist Sverre Koren Bjertnæs to a gallery in Sausolito/ San Francisco. That was way back in 2002, and Bjærtnes was on the verge of his success as a fine painter and artist. He is disputably an interesting artist and a man to look for in 2015 according to Artnet.

“He first established himself as a figurative painter and drawer. More recently, he has taken up sculptural figuration as part of his practice. Both his 2D and 3D work play off of traditional ideas of portraiture and sculpture. He uses color, irony, and expressionistic constructional gestures to lend character to his work”.

Sverre Bjertnes / Bjarne Melgaard at White Columns, New York
Read full story here: https://news.artnet.com/art-world/10-artists-to-watch-the-art-fair-edition-273351

Or visit Bjertnæs at Brandstrup here: http://brandstrup.no/sverre-bjertnaes/

Frick Museum Abandons Contested Renovation Plan

Source: http://www.frick.org/exhibitions/mauritshuis/670

Full story:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/04/nyregion/frick-museum-abandons-contested-renovation-plan.html

Collecting: the French art market and its affordable works

"In short, with $10,000 one can serenely acquire a work by a major artist who has withstood the test of time, and be confident about its financial value".

http://www.artprice.com/artmarketinsight/1117/The+French+art+market+and+its+affordable+works