Fredrik Værslev
-Hey, Aunt Maggie! I wanna become a painter!
- Well, you can start with painting our fence!
Fredrik Værslev's exhibition consists of the first presentation of painting at Lumiar Cité, a space that, at first sight, seems not compatible with the idea of a conventional painting exhibition. Its specificity, with rough brick walls and the absence of typical walls of a white cube, turns any painting exhibition into a particular challenge.
As a painter, Fredrik Værslev works in an idiosyncratic way regarding the choice of the 'motifs', the support and the actual presentation of the works. His concept of painting includes not only the use of traditional canvas, but also painted wooden structures, which, being part of the painting, result in an unusual three-dimensionality.
In Lisbon, Fredrik Værslev appropriates, in a multiple way, the logo of Lumiar Cité gallery, which emerges as a central symbol in each of the eight large-format canvases. This series of paintings is installed in an unexpected way, emphasizing the objectness of the support of the paintings in dialogue with another series of works: the wooden fence pieces constructed and painted by the artist installed at a distance on the flat sides of the gallery's columns.
A set of associations, articulated by the artist and derived from his autobiographical references – which are not revealed to the public – unfold by creating a mental space between painting understood as a medium whose projected aura suggests independence and freedom in their multiple interpretations and the eternal search by the public for the utility of art. Ironically, this search does not come out defrauded: the ʻfences' are transformed into ʻcoat racks' for hanging shirts designed by the tailor Per Christian Brath, who used a fabric that is normally used by art shippers to wrap up paintings.
Fredrik Værslev (Moss, Norway, 1979) lives and works in Drøbak and Vestfossen (Norway). He completed his studies at Malmö Art Academy and Städelschule, Frankfurt. Notable among his solo and collective exhibitions are: Andrew Kreps Gallery (New York), STANDARD (Oslo), Le Consortium (Dijon), Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen, Lunds Konsthall, Moderna Museet (Malmö) and Centre Georges Pompidou (Paris). He is a founding member and Director of the independent exhibition space Landings in Vestfossen. His works can be found in various public and private art collections, including: Astrup Fearnley Museet (Oslo), Konstmuseum Malmö, Moderna Museet (Stockholm) and the Centre Georges Pompidou (Paris).