About the artwork
Composed of interlacing black lines, this etching offers us a map-like landscape. The result is a strikingly expressive scene on the verge of abstraction. Per Kirkeby plays with the intensity of his hatching and its multiplication to build a layered composition that reveals and communicates with each other. According to the artist, the aim of his technique is not to represent the landscape, but rather a sensitive space. It's a question of representing "what we normally call a landscape". The expressiveness of her strokes takes precedence over form, and the artist takes us on an introspective journey into the landscape and what it manages to evoke.
Expert opinion
Far from the usual colors of his paintings, this print by Per Kirkeby reveals the very essence of his practice and his reflection on art. Refusing to be called a landscape painter, the artist has endeavored to offer reflective spaces on the nature of a landscape in order to faithfully reflect its scientific and poetic substance.
About the artist
Born in 1938 and died in 2018 in Copenhagen, Per Kirkeby is one of the most influential artists on the contemporary Scandinavian scene. In 1961, he discovered Kurt Schwitters' Expressionist landscapes, which had a major influence on his painting practice. His first exhibition took place in 1964, at the same time as he obtained his doctorate in geology. His work bears witness to this rich cultural background, proposing landscapes that may verge on the abstract, but whose structure, worked in superimposed layers, remains faithful to a scientific reality. His work has found its way into a number of prestigious collections, including the Tate Modern in London, the Centre Pompidou in Paris and the MoMa in New York. Per Kirkeby has been the subject of numerous solo exhibitions, including at the Tate Modern in London in 2009, the Phillips Collection in Washington DC in 2012 and the Almine Rech gallery in Paris in 2018.
“Engraving is an imprint. An imprint of the movements of matter. This is true of all art, but etching is so ostensibly imprinted that its presence becomes exciting. An imprint of the movements of matter, the imprint of the soul, that's nature. Nature is larger than reality.”
Additional info
Signed
Framed
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