Morten Søndergaard, consulting me with his word-drugstore at my opening RAVAGE in Musée d’Art Moderne, Saint-Etienne.

I am thoughtful after some very busy months working with my portrait exhibition for Frederiksborg Castle, which opened January 12th. The exhibition ended on April 2, and had many visitors, about 20,000 guests.

There was a lot of interest in the paintings, representing 40 years of my life. It was great to meet many of the models that I had not seen for years. Each portrait contains a story, and in my mind I was moved by being so privileged to have the opportunity to see my life in this way with the people I have met and exchanged thoughts with in different periods of my life.

However, it was very tragic that Peter Bastian, whom I painted in January 2016 while he was seriously ill, but later declared cured when he arrived at the opening at Frederiksborg Castle on January 12, 2017, and shared his wonderful music with us – died just 2 months later! He was a person, I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to be with the two days it took to paint the portrait. Even though we had never met before, the conversation went on intensely, and after the first day’s 10 hours of painting, (he stood for about 20 minutes at a time -about as long as a vinyl LP takes before turning), we had dinner, and then continued in the armchairs in front of the fireplace + a bottle of Brandy, where we outlined the consequences of Einstein’s theory of relativity in the perspective that the component of the soul is light ..

I must admit that the fact that he is dead makes me very sad. But through his life he showed such a passion and curiosity about life, philosophy, and the universe, that I’m sure he has met his destiny courageously – like a new adventure. He was a completely unique, loving person!

The new Carlsberg Foundation bought the portrait of Peter Bastian and also my 12 portraits of the crew on the inspection ship Ejnar Mikkelsen, which I painted while sailing in Greenland waters in April 2015.

On March 10, 2017, my big exhibition opened at the Musée d’Art Modern Saint-Etienne Metropole in France. Works from the last 20 years are shown. Paintings, drawings and videos. My exhibition was one in 3 that opened that day. The other exhibitions were the design biennial, and the Spanish sculptor Jaume Plensa.

During the opening hours, when museum director Martine Dancer was to introduce my works, she just mentioned my name, after which a big projector who was lighting up the scene exploded with a blast! It was railing down with glowing hot glass slices over us standing on stage and where they landed on the rubber mats we stood on, small smoke columns rose between us, which included us in a diabolical performance. I had the feeling that my dear late colleague Preben Fjederholt would mark his presence for me on this important day. My good friend, the author Morten Søndergaard, made a performance with his ‘word-drugstore’, translated into French. And many good friends and supporters met up to the opening. The exhibition catalog is yet not finished, but the exhibition lasts until 27 August, and therefore it is acceptable that it appears a little later. The catalog contains 168 pages, and is published by the German publisher Kerber very soon. With texts by Jens Christian Grøndahl, Merete Sanderhoff, Lorand Hegyi and Martine Dancer. On April 13, I was back in the museum, where an evening was arranged around my works. A panel consisting of the museum leader Martine Dancer, the Rector of the Academy of Fine Arts and I reviewed a number of selected works, including my inspiration sources, Wilhelm Hammershøi, Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud.

One of the other days I was at the art academy in the city of Saint-Etienne to review 6 students’ works at the Art Academy. It was an inspiring experience. It was good to see that there is still passion for painting. The young people were lighted and gifted.

Indlægget Status after 4 months of work blev vist første gang på Peter Martensen.

My upcoming exhibition at the Art Museum in Saint-Etienne, France, will soon be ready for pickup.
These days I am finishing a large painting for the exhibition. In addition, three large drawings. I am very excited to show my works in the museum, which has the largest collection of modern art in France next to Beaubourg in Paris. A new book is published with the exhibition, including essays by the art historian Merete Sanderhoff, and writer Jens Christian Grøndahl.

I have recently debuted in a new medium, radio. In two different programs – Torben Brandt’s ” Radiofortællinger ” on P1 and Poul Pilgaard Johnsen’s ” Flaskens Ånd”, Radio 24syv. The latter can be heard on Saturday, February 4th.

Indlægget Status, 26. januar 2017 blev vist første gang på Peter Martensen.

I have worked with portrait painting next to my production of free works through all the years. It has been a source of inspiration for me to draw and paint portrait studies of my family and friends, but also to paint official portrait commissions. I have always felt great pleasure and curiosity doing this. My portrait painting has never had the same consequent concept as with my other works. Often my portraits are very immediate – created from the moment. Over the years I have tried various methods in order to create a vibrant and honestly portrait. The starting point is always the model in front of me, but at times I have experimented with using only photos. There is something intriguing about photos that I never stop being fascinated by, but I feel I lose some dimensions, if the image is not created with the model in front of me. The exchange between the portrayed and I is a living reality, transmitted to the painting while we are together. This feels more authentic than when I only paint from photos. Of course you can always question what authenticity is, but my point is that I have more confidence in the unconscious choices I make while working in the moment, rather than the more calculated approach one can have with a photo that tells exactly how the image can be built up in 2 dimensions, despite the interesting philosophical and metaphysically aspects photos also contain..

What a great moment it will be when the portraits are hanging on the walls, and many of the portrayed hopefully show up for a happy reunion!

My main concern is how to manage to reach to talk to everyone, without anyone feeling they are second priority.

The exhibition opens officially Friday, Jan. 13 at 11. The exhibition runs until April 2, 2017 and is open all days of the week from 11 to 15.

Indlægget Portraits in the National History Museum Frederiksborg Castle. blev vist første gang på Peter Martensen.

Min udsmykning er malet på to lærreder på 2X3 meter, der er stødt tæt sammen, således at det endelige mål på billedet bliver 3X4 meter. Billedet er monokromt, dvs malet i kun en farve, sort, der er gradueret i mange gråtoner. Motivet er voldsomt, dramatisk og ubegribeligt. Jeg har mixet elementer fra redningsarbejdernes arbejdsliv med elementer fra min billedverden. Det er mit håb, at redningsarbejderne får lyst til i pauserne at fordybe sig i kompositionen, og bruge deres forestillingsevne og måske fortælleglæde til at komme med bud på, hvad det egentlig er der foregår i billedet. Redningsstationen får omkring 3000 besøgende om året, så mon ikke fantasien kan få frit løb, når redningsarbejderne skal svare på spørgsmål om billedets indhold? Det håber jeg!

Nu svinder lyset, og jeg må over til billedet, inden det elektriske lys skal tændes. Skumringen er den fantastiske men desværre alt for korte periode at male i!

Indlægget 4. december 2016 blev vist første gang på Peter Martensen.

My decoration is a painting on two canvases of 2X3 meters, put closely together so that the final image measures 3X4 meters. The painting is monochrome, black, graded in a large scale of grey. The subject is violent, dramatic and inconceivable. I have mixed elements of rescue men working with elements from my imagery. It is my hope that the rescue workers will use my work as a daily inspiration and joy. Perhaps they will use their interpretations of what is going on in the picture and be actively co-creators of the work, when they guide visitors in the station. The estimate number of visitors a year is about 3,000, so I guess imagination can run wild when the rescue workers have to answer questions about the content of the image? I hope so!

Now the light is fading, and I have to paint before it is getting too dark. The dusk is fantastic but unfortunately a too short period period of time to paint in!

Indlægget December 4, 2016 blev vist første gang på Peter Martensen.

Indlægget My first blog blev vist første gang på Peter Martensen.