Self-portrait with chainsaw

Tanker om utstillingen i Galleri A, Oslo, 2. mai 2024.
Jeg må innrømme at jeg sjeldent forstår hva mine utstillinger egentlig handler om før utstillingen er ferdig malt. Hvis jeg går i en ny retning tematisk og malerisk så vet jeg ikke alltid hvorfor (bortsett fra at jeg antakelig føler meg nokså ferdigmalt for en stund med den forrige tematikken).
Slik jeg leser denne samlingen med nye malerier fra min hånd, så handler de antakelig om naturen rundt oss og menneskets domestisering av den. Som at motorsagene på pidestallene er kalt: «Tredreper» I, II og III. Bjørkene i disse bildene viser ikke røttene, ikke tretoppene, de er sett i utsnitt rett fra siden, som på utstilling. Bakenfor trærne ses mer eller mindre monokrome flater som om trærne, og de få dyrene blant dem, er fanget i en smal stripe i et menneskeskapt rom.
Selv har jeg brukt store deler av min tid på å jakte og fiske, sanke bær og sopp - og trær - sanke fra det jeg inntil nylig har trodd har vært å sanke av et overskudd. Sånn er det ikke lenger, jeg har lagt børsa på hylla. Naturen skrumper og skrumper, de ville dyrene forsvinner, havene tømmes for liv.
Jeg håper jo ikke at jeg nå maler den siste skogen og de siste ville dyrene, men jeg vil gjerne vise dem fram, peke på dem, studere dem, se hvor vakre de er, så lenge de er her.
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"I have to admit that I rarely understand what the topics for my exhibitions are really about until all the works for the exhibition are finished. If I go in a new direction thematically and painterly, I don't always know why (apart from the fact that I probably feel quite finished painting with the previous theme for a while).
As I see this collection of my new paintings, they are probably about the nature around us and human domestication of it. Like the chainsaws on the pedestals are called: "Tredreper" ("Tree killer") I, II and III. In these paintings the birches roots don't show, nor the treetops. They are seen in section straight from the side, as in an exhibition. Behind the trees, more or less monochrome surfaces are seen, as if the trees, and the few animals among them, are trapped in a narrow strip in a man-made space.
I myself have spent much of my time hunting, fishing, gathering berries and mushrooms - and trees - gathering from what I until recently thought was reaping from abundance. It is no longer like that, I have put the gun aside. Nature is being destroyed by the minute, the wild animals go extinct, the seas are fished out and on the brink of ecological collapse.
I hope I have not painted the last forest, or and last wild animals, but I would like to show my depiction of them, point to them, study them, see how beautiful they are, as long as they are still here."
-Tor-Arne Moen, 2024
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Tor-Arne Moen (1966) is a Norwegian painter, printmaker and author. He lives and works in Notodden (Telemark), Norway. He was educated at the Bergen National Academy of the Arts (1988-94).
The artist is recognizable by his high-powered figurative technique with heavily painted surfaces consisting of coarse and thick brushstrokes made with varying brush widths, in layer upon layer. He uses a mix of oil-paint and egg-oil tempera, an old technique based on an emulsifying binder. Emulsion is a mixture of two substances which initially cannot be mixed, in this case oil and water. The egg is added as the emulsifier, which allows oil and water to mix. The word tempera refers to the actual painting technique and was used by the masters since Medieval times. While the tempera is often applied in thin layers, Moen uses it with oil-paint, and in generous amounts, in order to get the creamy texture, and set the brushstrokes in relief to the canvas.
Moen usually works in series over a topic that can occupy him for several years, before changing his theme and style, seeking new angles into his painterly excavations.
Tor-Arne Moen is represented by many renowned galleries all over Norway and by RJD Gallery in the USA. His works are acquired by art collectors both nationally and internationally.
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Although Moen has claimed that "the motif is just an excuse to paint", his paintings leaves the spectator with space to interpret, and are often highly imaginative and with stories to tell.
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(Comment in English by Galleri Grette)