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On his way, on his way...
by Jógvan Isaksen, M.A.
Kári Svensson was in his thirties before he seriously started painting
and the early paintings typically reveal influences of other Faroese artists
like Ingálvur av Reyni and Zacharias Heinesen. It is as if the newly
hatched talent finds his bearings in the world through mimesis. But Kári
Svensson does not lend himself readily to a static study; he is continuously
moving on and during the past years, his paintings have developed between exhibitions.
It may be difficult to determine whether his late and self-made entrance on
the professional stage of art has to do with the unrest. However, in the Faroese
world of art, it is unusual for a pictorial artist to be in such a hurry and
to persistently pursue his exploration, in spite of his great success both in
his homeland and abroad. The artistic aspiration and development has proved
itself so manifest that it may indeed be difficult for the observer to see that
the same person is the creator of one of the current paintings and a painting
made a few years ago.
Kári Svensson has said that the Faroese nature represents an inexhaustible
source of inspiration, and thus he does not oppose being referred to as a "landscape
painter". But he is nonetheless not a landscape painter in the classical
sense. Even though a few of the paintings have recognisable threads to figurative
art, most of his paintings are abstract expressionism. Judging from the titles
of the paintings, the basis is always a view of nature, but either perceived
with such proximity or abstraction that it only leaves form, colour, and textural
effect. This is emphasised by the generally predominant earth-colours in the
early paintings, rendering an impression of weight and calm. Beneath the surface,
though, is the smouldering of the primary colours.
Kári Svensson's earlier paintings are often cubistically static, but
especially the paintings of the recent few years have increased movement. The
seemingly unshakeable rock-bound coast, embodying still pools of water, is again
depicted as something floating and then captured in a moment. The colouring
has changed from ochreous through colour explosions with earth-colour anchoring
toward the grey scale by which he emphasises the Faroese perception that all
colours are to be found in the colour of grey. Into this apparently subdued
spectrum are inserted white and especially red amorphous ornaments, which, in
Per Kierkeby's words, "keep the shit together". The red colour acts
as a silver cord to the concrete reality and at the same time as a frame that
gives the painting form and coherence and prevents it from blurring completely.
In the early paintings, the classic Faroese motif of the village by the sea
was represented from an expressionistic cubistic perspective towards a lyrical
abstraction, where the village is only just made out because the spectator knows
that it is there. Other paintings are rough with an apparent affinity to Pierre
Soulages, while the predominant motif is the landscape - often the bluff. The
rock wall is sometimes viewed at such a close distance that it fills out everything.
The painting attempts to interpret the magic of the rocks, both the dominant
vertical landscape as well as - which is the case in the recent paintings -
the massive horizontal surface of the beach.
The landscape is continuously applied as a structure but there is a free utilisation
of form and colour. The artist is now making paintings of interpretation of
nature. The seen reality is no longer rendered in the paintings, but rather
the artist's personal experiences, his interpretations. Like in the case of
another self-taught artist, Per Kierkeby, traces are significant to Kári
Svensson; however, they differ in the sense that Kierkeby's traces are a kind
of historical segment in the painting, whereas to Kári Svensson, especially
nature and the close predecessors are the traces.
Kári Svensson is not trying to shirk the tradition, but takes it along
on his journey into the world of painting, where it forms the foundation for
his desire to try new paths. He is by no means at the end of his painting; he
is on his way, on his way...
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