Opus Art

Henrik Simonsen: Where Wild Things Grow

(30 Sep 2011 - 13 Nov 2011)

We are excited to announce a two site solo exhibition of new paintings and prints by artist Henrik Simonsen at our Newcastle gallery and at The Customs House in South Shields. This exhibition will run from 30 September - 13 November where collectors can buy original art by Henrik Simonsen at both sites.  

Steeped in the Scandinavian tradition of art and design inspired by natural elements, Henrik Simonsen employs the inexhaustible richness of nature as metaphor for the vitality and vulnerability, passions and weaknesses inherent in the human experience. There is a lesson to be learnt from the infinite variety in nature and the innate complexity in even its most simple forms.

Drawing is central to Henrik Simonsen’s work, stemming from the directness of the mark-making process and the simple way lines on a surface create shapes and forms. All elements are drawn freehand, even in repetition, to maintain the life and strength of the line and therefore its direct connection to the feeling that motivates it. In recent work, paint and colour have developed a greater integrity, especially when poured or thrown at the canvas. These splashes of paint contrast drawn lines with an abstract element and suggest the shifting moods at play within formal expression.

Simonsen is interested in the role of history, both as an influence and a creative element in his work. He follows an organic process where elements are allowed to ‘grow’ onto the canvas in layers, informing one another in their creation. The resulting imagery documents this process while creating a sense of time having passed on the canvas rather than one frozen point in time. 

For this latest body of work Henrik Simonsen has drawn inspiration from the fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen. These tales become embedded in the life of the paintings and encompass sorrow, death, evil, and man's follies, paired with everyday-life themes of love, nature, injustice, suffering and poverty. These motifs become intertwined with the plants, flowers and insects on the canvas.

Decorative elements used in Henrik Simonsen’s work are inspired by 18th and 19th century wallpapers as well as Japanese and Chinese screen painting and fabrics. These are at times obscured or revealed amidst a contemporary take on the minutely observed taxonomies of naturalist still life. This historical attempt to tame nature in architectural interiors is punctuated by pours and splatters referencing the irreverent elements of street art – a sort of mental graffiti betraying feelings too unkempt to be contained in a civilized space. The overall sense is one of contemporary emotions breaking free within the polite restraint of history’s drawing room.

Echoing the very nature of its subject matter, Simonsen’s new work represents a subtle evolution of form. This work meets an ever developing function as a field-guide to the artist’s observations and experiences along the at-times overgrown path of existence.

Please contact enquiries@opus-art.com for further information about this new exhibition.

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