Serious, disturbing, thought provoking. Optically striking, mythical and technically outstanding. That´s just some of the descriptions this artist have had of his works.
We are pleased to welcome Njål Lunde as new artist at our gallery! The Norwegian artist has his education from the National Academy of Fine Arts in Oslo and works with drawing, photography, sculpture and animation. He often combines new an old technology in his works, for instance digital flatbed print and a woodburning tool (pyrography).
The works we have on display are mostly pyrography drawings/ UV-prints on birch veneer, revealing the artists high technical skills in subtle motives.
Lundes exhibitions since 2001 include solo shows at Haugesund Art Society, Hå Gamle Prestegard, Ålesund Art Society, Bryne Art Society, Sandnes Art Society Galleri Henrik Gerner, and several group exhibitions in Norway including several participations in the annual “Høstutstillingen” in Oslo.
He has Completed several large scale projects indoor and outdoor in public spaces and public buildings in Bergen, Oslo, Stavanger, Drammen and Sandnes.
Njål Lunde has received several national grants and a international merit from 3×3 illustration show.
The artist draws inspiration from the past; mythology, history of philosophy and history of religion, but also from thoughts about the future that are found in science fiction and visions of the future in popular culture.
Lunde is interested in the concept of anthropomorphism (personification of nature or dead objects). In his art he is careful to balance this way of viewing the world so that anthropomorphism is not predominant but emerges in the viewers’ consciousness through our tendency to search for and find patterns and connections in a chaotic world.
The human figure is absent in Lunde´s motifs, but man is nevertheless strongly present in our reading of them. In his pictures one finds few elements, but often great richness of detail, and his love of the visual and compositional purity and stylization of traditional Japanese art is highly present.
Lunde emphasizes that he is eager to use a recognizable and not very “exclusive” design language in his works, in order to reach a wide audience.
– I try to balance my fear of the beautiful (“Kalliphobia”) and my love of the aesthetic and harmonious (“Kalliphilia”), he says, and thus uses aesthetics, tools and motifs to explore the relationship between the peaceful, disturbing, decorative and meaningful.
(Courtesy of Hildegunn Guddal Svensson interviewing Njål Lunde for Rogaland Art Society, 2018)
