Lars Elling: Modern Norwegian Art At Its Strangest

On August 7, 2015 by Tim Newman

Lars Elling (1966) is a Norwegian painter and playwright. He seems, to me, to have one foot in surrealist history, another foot gently kicking the classics and his hands rampaging freely across the canvass. But then I don’t know anything about art.

Elling‘s works have been displayed in galleries far and wide and are sought after by collectors on a global scale. Elling describes how he chose painting as a career during an interview with ArtFridge:

It’s a very clichéd- story: I was the little asthmatic kid, who spends too much time inside the house. I started painting around the age of five, but never really realised that painting is a job until I went to the academy. We have this National Military Service in Norway. I spend 15 months in the air force and that was by far the most stupid experience I have ever had in my life. Just realizing the incredible mediocrity of life and of people. I didn’t occur to me before. So that’s when I decided to be a painter. It seemed like the easy way out – I just continued what I always did.

In case you’re interested to know what Wikipedia says about him, rather than my twaddle:

Elling’s pictures have often photographic and cinematic elements, combined with the dramatic action. The paintings can be read as arranged short plays with many loose ends.

Here’s how he approaches the canvass:

I don’t sketch. Every painting contains layers of other figures that disappear. The composition changes gradually. If I manage to keep the painting alive for a long time then eventually it will turn into something interesting.

Check out some of his work below, and there’s plenty more at his official site.