FAILED FAMILY PHOTOS
WITHOUT FRAMES
- On the Path to Deeper Artistic Freedom -
Part 4
by Arnvid Aakre
Woman with dolphin.
Painting 150 x 120 cm of woman with a dolphin, and Zahrah peeping on the top.
Painting 150 x 120 cm of woman with a dolphin, and Zahrah peeping on the top.
After nearly fourteen years, living permantly in Egypt. The first part of which I spent studying classical ancient art and its artists in Luxor, and the latter part exploring contemporary art, culture, and artists in Cairo.
Yes, for a period, I even had access to a studio on a houseboat on the Nile, but even then, I didn’t manage to produce an entire exhibition.
My mode was more "input" than "output".
A Good Night Story.
From the serial of works named "Failed Family Photos, painting digitally with Corel Painter and Wacom Mobile Studio Pro.
From the serial of works named "Failed Family Photos, painting digitally with Corel Painter and Wacom Mobile Studio Pro.
I was often invited to appear on cultural programs on Egyptian TV, and the largest TV channel in the Middle East even made a one-hour program about me and my art.
Personally, I haven’t bothered to watch the program.
“Typical,” I can hear Monica saying in the background…
I was solely focused on absorbing the culture and its art. The only exception was those months I spent in Norway in 1994 and the subsequent exhibition in Oslo.
Then it was back to the "land of adventure," as Egypt is described in the foreword to an older edition of Norwegian Folktales.
In the capital, which at that time had close to 20 million inhabitants, I was walking as usual one day on the streets of downtown Cairo.
Suddenly, someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned abruptly and looked into a face...
Well, not a face, because it was completely covered. What on earth, I thought. Burqas were absolutely not common in Egypt, and this completely black-clad woman startled me.
Then the woman in the burqa said, "Relax, Arnvid, it's just Petter."
It was, in fact, “just” Nelly Nylon visiting Cairo. Laughing, we embraced, surely an odd sight for anyone who happened to see us.
Ole Paus even created this tribute to Nelly Nylon.
Not everything fits within the frames we expect, and when I returned to Norway, fall season 2003, Tribute to Failed Family Photos became a natural theme for me, especially since I have exhibited alongside photographers on several occasions.
Egypt did not fit into predictable frames, nor did I, and certainly not Petter/Nelly Nylon.
SHATTERED GLASS
Many can probably relate to some similar moment when the world seems to fall apart.
For me, it's connected to what happened at Aker Brygge in the 1980s. Aker Mechanical Workshop was located there first, before shopping centers and "exit" apartments sprang up like mushrooms.
The workshop was shut down in 1982, and from 1983 onwards, artists of all kinds moved in.
The image here captures a mood from one of the concerts back then. It also represents some of my early digitally drawn/painted artworks.
An atmosphere from the eighties, created around 2006.
Many can probably relate to some similar moment when the world seems to fall apart.
For me, it's connected to what happened at Aker Brygge in the 1980s. Aker Mechanical Workshop was located there first, before shopping centers and "exit" apartments sprang up like mushrooms.
The workshop was shut down in 1982, and from 1983 onwards, artists of all kinds moved in.
The image here captures a mood from one of the concerts back then. It also represents some of my early digitally drawn/painted artworks.
An atmosphere from the eighties, created around 2006.
For those who remember analog cameras with rolls of film, you’ll know they were handed in at photo shops, and every image on the roll was developed.
Kodak Instamatic was the smartphone of its time, and its advertising slogan read: “Kodak Instamatic – so simple even Mom can use it.” Not exactly a slogan that would age well today (-:
The photos were returned to customers in an envelope along with the negatives.
These pictures are our history, and among them, there was always an aunt Anna who captured a family photo where only the feet made it into the frame. Or an Anton who photographed his girlfriend Petra but only managed to include the lower part of her face.
I think it’s sad that these kinds of photos are no longer around. That’s why I spent so much time working on this theme—because the failed is also a part of our history!
Failed Family Photo with Snake.
Acrylic on canvas - 150 x 120 cm
Acrylic on canvas - 150 x 120 cm
Failed Family Photo with Pink Camel.
Acrylic on canvas - 150 x 120 cm
Acrylic on canvas - 150 x 120 cm
From the review of the exhibition "Failed Family Photo" in BA (Bergens Avisen), 2008:
"THE LUDO WAR
'I always win at Ludo,' says Zahrah (8) confidently.
Arnvid has let three children decide which animal should appear in his latest painting.
Zahrah wants a dolphin. Aisha May Aakre (10) wants a dor beetle, and Leaf Oliver Preston Thorsen (10) wants a unicorn on the canvas".
A bit further down in the same article:
"The children take the task seriously and have their own opinions about art.
'I prefer sketches and detailed visual art,' says Leaf.
'And I like light blue art the best,' says Zahrah.
'I haven’t seen much art, just Daddy (Arnvid) and Picasso,' says Aisha May.
Which do you like best—Daddy or Picasso?
'Don’t know. They’re very different,' Aisha May replies as she rolls the dice".
So who won the Ludo war?
Just look below (-:
Art is not valuated by it's "stiff upper lip" - sometimes we should smile as well?
Zahrah won the Ludo war
- and got the dolphin on the last painting for the exhibition.
Acrylic on canvas - 150 x 120 cm
- and got the dolphin on the last painting for the exhibition.
Acrylic on canvas - 150 x 120 cm
