Per Kirkeby Danish artist 1938–2018 Painter, poet, film-maker, geologist and sculptor.
The more I look at the work of artists to research for this course, the more I realise how impoverished we are using photos as reference points. I am sure that if i was able to see a work like ‘Weltuntergang‘ (below) in ‘person’, it would have so much more impact than just looking at a thumbnail on a webpage. No matter how well photographed the source image is, it can never substitute for seeing the actual painting up front and personal. But needs must hey?
“I’m a painter and have painted a painting,” he said. “And really, I don’t want to say anything more about it.”
(From the Guardian obit credited below)
My tutor asked me to have a look at Kirkeby’s work with regards to line and colour – of which there is an abundance. I watched a very interesting YouTube interview with him (2015). ‘Colour has a substance’ he says in the video. He also discusses his use (and perhaps, ‘misuse’) of colour, how he often paints over anything that’s ‘pretty’. You can see the geologist in his work – especially in the colossal painting below (the YouTube video gives a much clearer idea of how large this work is)
Brett – Felsen 2000 (Tate.org)
I have seen many images online of his work, it was difficult to find a couple to put here for reference, as the scope of his output was phenomenal.
Bibliography
About the painting ‘Composition’ which was made one year after he started working in oils – 1978 https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/kirkeby-composition-t13845
http://www.artnet.com/artists/per-kirkeby/https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0456592/ (films)
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2018/may/17/per-kirkeby-obituary
https://www.artsy.net/artist/per-kirkeby
https://www.tate.org.uk/tate-etc/issue-16-summer-2009/polymath-our-time (Brett-Felsen image)
https://frieze.com/sites/default/files/editorial/per-kirkeby-weltuntergang.jpg) (Weltuntergang image)
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fyiqw-7wlBg We build upon ruins video. (2015)
