The unnoticed flora of traditional landscape art is transformed into the lead characters in
Henrik Simonsen’s alluring sceneries. Grasses become majestic as they wave in a tiny opening in a forest; thorny bushes intertwine with flowering plants; and a solitaire small tree with branches shaped by the unforgiving wind. However tall or short, Simonsen’s characters are mysterious as they are secretive, each playing a role in the artist’s harmonic sceneries. His work grows organically with the use of pens and brushes, layering on top the abstract colour palette informed by Nordic light; a light taking on an almost mythological role. In Simonsen’s series of ‘Sloe’s the light is in focus, showing the progression of a sunny summer’s day.
Simonsen holds fond childhood memories of the sloe bush, also known as blackthorn. At his home in the Danish countryside, the bushes marked the edges of the fields that belonged to his parents - and in his mind sloes became markers of boundaries; keeping people in and people out. Their dense and prickly growth pattern, bitter blue fruit and heavily scented white flowers made a strong impression on Henrik as a child. Plants he used to think were the kind that might belong in a world of fairy tales; like the old dying oak on the dusty and quiet countryside road in the tale ‘Tinderbox’ by H.C Andersen. Once a tall and proud oak, now hiding deep down below its roots, a treasure of copper, silver and gold coins, protected by three colossal dogs sitting in a corridor lid by one-hundred lamps.
The expressive shape of the Sloe made them a fascinating subject matter for the print series, simply titled ‘Sloe’. The branches and the complex nature in which they grow, especially the more mature bushes, where parts of them no longer carry leaves, are revealing more of the structure. Slightly smaller in scale than the artist’s other print editions, Simonsen created the series of four individual works paired two-and-two in composition, though different in colour.
HENRIK SIMONSEN
Orange Sloe, 2016
Edition of 60
6 Artist Proof (APs)
75(w) x 75(h) cm
29.53(w) x 29.53(h) inches
HENRIK SIMONSEN
Orange Sloe, 2016
Edition of 60
6 Artist Proof (APs)
75(w) x 75(h) cm
29.53(w) x 29.53(h) inches
|
75(w) x 75(h) cm 29.53(w) x 29.53(h) inches
|
7 colour screenprint on Somerset 410 gsm paper
Signed and numbered on front
Image size: 65 x 65 cm
Edition of 60
|
|
The background hue in each of the works on paper indicates the light at different times in the course of a sunny summer’s day. The
Orange Sloe with its heavy warm light of a summer’s morning;
Yellow Sloe representing the bright intense light of the midday sun that makes shadows dark and sharp;
Pink Sloe in the late afternoon and early evening when the light begins to pale and the sun starts to set.
The last of the four prints,
Blue Sloe, represents the twilight hour, or the “blue hour” as it is known in Scandinavia. During this time of the day, the colours move towards blue and leaves show up lighter than the blue darkening. Growing up exposed to the Nordic light, where the summer days are much longer and the winter days considerably shorter, light and colour plays an important part in Simonsen’s work, contributing significantly to the story behind each piece.
HENRIK SIMONSEN
Blue Sloe, 2016
Edition of 60
6 Artist Proof (APs)
75(w) x 75(h) cm
29.53(w) x 29.53(h) inches
HENRIK SIMONSEN
Blue Sloe, 2016
Edition of 60
6 Artist Proof (APs)
75(w) x 75(h) cm
29.53(w) x 29.53(h) inches
|
75(w) x 75(h) cm 29.53(w) x 29.53(h) inches
|
7 colour screenprint on Somerset 410 gsm paper
Signed and numbered on front
Image size: 65 x 65 cm
Edition of 60
|
|
Simonsen’s work is often referred to Nordic Expressionism; a branch of the Expressionism movement first surfacing in northern Europe in the late 19th century. Unlike traditional Expressionism, the northern fraction used a different colour palette, reflecting the natural light in the northern hemisphere. Expressions were made through figurative work, such as the famous painting ‘The Scream’ by Edward Munch, or inspired by the natural elements, which form the origin of Simonsen’s practice.
While the influence of the artist’s other works are stretching from French Rococo to the fairy tales of H.C. Andersen, the subject matter of Sloe series places Simonsen among painters like Danish artist Christen Købke (1810-1848); one of the significant painters of the Golden Age period. Similar to many of Købke’s landscape works, informed by the humblest flora of his immediate surrounding in the outskirts of Copenhagen, Simonsen elevates an unremarkable sloe bush into beautiful art through memories, close attention and an illuminated setting.
HENRIK SIMONSEN
Pink Sloe, 2016
Edition of 60
6 Artist Proof (APs)
75(w) x 75(h) cm
29.53(w) x 29.53(h) inches
HENRIK SIMONSEN
Pink Sloe, 2016
Edition of 60
6 Artist Proof (APs)
75(w) x 75(h) cm
29.53(w) x 29.53(h) inches
|
75(w) x 75(h) cm 29.53(w) x 29.53(h) inches
|
7 colour screenprint on Somerset 410 gsm paper
Signed and numbered on front
Image size: 65 x 65 cm
Edition of 60
|
PRICE
$ 785.00
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Only 3 left at this price
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Orange Sloe,
Yellow Sloe,
Pink Sloe and
Blue Sloe were released in a collaboration with
Henrik Simonsen in 2016. Each 7-colour screenprint is an edition of 60, signed and numbered on front.
In our recent article
Henrik Simonsen | Nordic Expressionism you can read more about Simonsen’s practice and his development as an artist. The article can be found
here.
You can find more details about the four print editions in the ‘Sloe’ series on
Henrik Simonsen’s artist page
here.
HENRIK SIMONSEN
Yellow Sloe, 2016
Edition of 60
6 Artist Proof (APs)
75(w) x 75(h) cm
29.53(w) x 29.53(h) inches
HENRIK SIMONSEN
Yellow Sloe, 2016
Edition of 60
6 Artist Proof (APs)
75(w) x 75(h) cm
29.53(w) x 29.53(h) inches
|
75(w) x 75(h) cm 29.53(w) x 29.53(h) inches
|
7 colour screenprint on Somerset 410 gsm paper
Signed and numbered on front
Image size: 65 x 65 cm
Edition of 60
|
|