BGE is delighted to announce our upcoming solo show ”Skreddertimen” with Norwegian artist Øyvind Sørfjordmo. The exhibition consists of paintings and sculptures from the series Vacation Time, 2019 created during a long residency stay at the Cité des Arts in Paris, and also at Sørfjordmo’s studio in Oslo in December. The works explore possibilities and boundaries within non-figurative and abstract expressions.
The artist states about his work: ”I have a desire to create a feeling in my paintings that remind me of looking out in the woods at dusk, or at night. Since the eyes do not function properly in the dark, the brain begins to improvise and often looks for something that was not discovered at first. I want the viewer to finish my paintings for me.”
Sørfjordmo's sketches, paintings and sculptures communicate with each other across mediums. The work is process-based and usually starts as sketches, often as soft concrete or with pencil on paper. The sketches are developed and formed into a visual language, which in turn is explored as painting or sculpture. Often, the three methods of painting, sketching and sculpture are seen in relation to each other. In Sørfjordmo's practice, color, strokes and composition are transferred between canvas, metal, concrete, wood, paper and cardboard.
The exhibition ”Skreddertimen” can for Sørfjordmo be compared to the painter's time for reflection. Reality encompasses everything that is tangible and true or that which exists in the world around us, as opposed to fantasies and abstract ideas. It is in the picturesque abstraction that stories arise and are created, and it is during the resting period that reflections are created.
Sørfjordmo graduated from Kunstakademiet in Oslo in 2018, he is represented in the permanent collection of artworks at Trondheim Kunstmuseum, and has exhibited at Høstutstillingen at Kunstnernes Hus in 2018. He was awarded the Håkon Bleken Scholarship in 2018.
This exhibition is supported by the Arts Council Norway