Thomas Falstad from the "Citizens" series
7011 Vestfossen has the pleasure of inviting you to the opening of a new exhibition at
Arena Vestfossen. We present five young artists – all of whom are either still studying at
or has recently graduated from the art academies of Malmö, Tromsø and Oslo. They are
now about to establish themselves on the art scene, and even if their points of departure
differ one can easily spot common denominators here, that are representative for this
specific generation of artists. One of these shared aspects is a practice liberated from the
traditional compartmentalization of art into categories like painting, sculpture, drawing
and performance. These artists feel naturally at home within a larger scope of genres and
mediums.
Thomas Falstad (b. 1977) is educated at Kingston University, London. His paintings can
be seen as atmospheric reports from a parallel world, or a near future, where civilization
has collapsed. A personal vision of apocalyptic and dream-like imagery is mounted on
a skeletal structure made up of referances to science fiction, computer game aesthetics,
totalitarian architecture and art history. The ongoing, fictitious, portrait-series ”Citizens”
is juxtaposed with landscape-paintings emptied of people. As if torn from family albums
or obituaries these portraits lend to the otherwise bland and lifeless landscapes a human
presence – and their infected and scarred faces bear witness of untold tragedies.
Daniel Peder Askeland (b. 1985) studies at the Art Academy in Malmö. He is showing
two works that articulate two extremes of painting: One with the help of a technology not
tradionally associated with art, namely x-ray photography (shown here as photo mounted
on a light-box). The other is a monumental, black relieff-painting.These works are part of
an ongoing exploration of painting’s sculptural consciousness. Its underlying drama and
hidden inauthenticity are Askeland’s main concerns.
Maiken Stene (b.1983) is currently studying for her MA at the Art Academy in
Malmö. ”Key(in)Frames” are drawings and paintings that depart from, among other
things, film-stills. These excerpts resonate with and contribute to the development of a
visual story that centers on the inside of the entrance to a mine. It turns out that the terror
and darkness inside the mine is leaking to the outside.
Espen Olsen (b.1983) has a BA from Falmouth College of Arts in England and is
currently studying for his MA at the Art Academy in Oslo. He is showing monotypes,
drawings and etchings. The etchings are from a series of self-portraits, made in 2006,
that are based on a previous series of works that explored the line’s expressive properties.
These older works were based on portraits made with the help of an ”Etch-a-Sketch”.
The etchings from 2006 emulate this language by employing an uninterrupted line that
attempts to combine rigidness with an organic lightness. Nine new drawings (2010) –
also on display in this exhibition – further investigate this theme.
Sigrid Bendz (b. 1983) is studying at the Art Academy in Tromsø and works with
painting, installation and performance.
7011 Vestfossen / info@7011.no/
