A L F
S O L B A K K E N
2 0 1 0 - 2 0 1 3
Alf Solbakken
1960, Bodø, Norway Exhibitions2012 Galleri Sult Stavanger 2012 Galleri Haavik Kristiansand
2007 By-Larm Trondheim
2007 Luihn Kristiansand
2007 Agder Kunstnersenter Kristiansand
2006 Frk Larsen Kristiansand
2005 Paddys Kristiansand
2000 Galleri Sting Stavanger 1999 Clodion Cafe Oslo
1998 The Quart Festival Kristiansand 1998 Galleri 3 Kristiansand 1997 Tollbodgt 3 Kristiansand 1997 Galleri Sting Stavanger 1997 Bakgården Bar Kristiansand 1996 The Quart Festival Kristiansand 1996 Vigeland Hovedgård Vennesla
1994 Barbeint Oslo
1992 Barbeint Oslo 1992 Galleri Sting Stavanger 1988 Galleri Sting Stavanger 1985 Cafe De Stijl Oslo
1985 Sørlandsutstillingen Kristiansand 1984 Sørlandsutstillingen Kristiansand Group shows
New York, Paris, Cape Town, Oslo, Stavanger and Kristiansand
Permanent display
2010 - Fishmarked Kristiansand 2008 - Haandverkeren Kristiansand 2007 - Både & Kristiansand 2007 - Herlige Land Kristiansand 1999 - Quart Hotel Kristiansand 1997 - Fønix Kino Kristiansand 1994 - 2009 Ernst Park Hotel Kristiansand 1991 - 1997 Markens Brød & Sirkus Kristiansand 1986 - 1993 Rockefeller Music Hall Oslo
1984 - 1998 Kick Cafe Kristiansand Design LP/CD cover: Jan Bang, Erik Honoré, Lee Konitz Jon Hassell, Hilde Hefte, Egil Kapstad, Janki Transeth Quart 04, Einar Iversen, Entusijazzme, Halgeir Pedersen Sidsel Endresen, Tom Olstad, Rolf Kristensen, Frank Kvinge Johnny Augland, Darkside Of The Forc, Salvador Sanchez Necessary, Nest, Munch, Ave, Woodlands, Nutopia
Tenderleaves, Sgrow
Design material /photo for The Punkt Festival
The Quart Festival, Ponca Jazz Records, Odderøya Live Ordskifte, Karmakosmetix, T23
Photo: Coca Cola, Die Zeit, Dagbladet, NRK, Arve Henriksen Jan Bang, Erik Honoré, John Paul Jones, Salvador Sanchez Tenderleaves, Blood red throne, Hilde Hefte, Egil Kapstad Quartfestival, The Punkt Festival, VG, Fedrelandsvennen Cappelen Damm, Southern Discomfort, Ravnebarn
Visit/contact
poncajazzrec.no/alfsolbakken fineart.no
gallerisult.no flickr.com
A l f S o l b a k k e n
Alf Solbakken is an artist from Kristiansand, Norway, who started his career as a painter in the early 1980’s. In the 90’s he also began to use photography as a medium, and his combination of photography and painting has resulted in a unique expression.
Solbakken’s background as a musician in the avant-garde band Munch, and the spirit of this music, is clearly reflected in his artistic career. As is the case with his musical background, his photography stays outside of the dominant trends and can be difficult to place within contemporary main genres or within simplistic representations that create a notion of clear correlations and linear development. Artists who fall outside this kind of storytelling often have the ability to convey distinctive and personal images of the world, images that resonate with a wide audience once they get attention. (In a Norwegian context, artists such as Odd Nerdrum and Einar Sigstad are examples of this tendency.)
Alf Solbakken relates his work to the media reality of popular culture, and his characteristic style is difficult to cathegorize. He works digitally with
photography, and applies his knowledge and skills in a playful way. Solbakken’s imagery refers to both art history and popular culture. He says he is inspired by the early history of art, and mentions the Cobra art movement as a source of inspiration. We see references to landscape and genre painting, pop art, socially engaged art and advertising in his genre-breaking works. He travels around the world photographing and transforming reality, placing animals, UFOs, planes, money and buildings into a new image universe on his computer.
In the theoretical discussions of the 1970’s and 80’s, the status of the photograph as a witness was decomposed. Any photographic truth was deconstructed, and the photograph was revealed as an opportunistic medium which since its birth had been used to construct lies and false images of human identity, etc. But even if it was denied that the photograph should have a special claim on reality, photography is used more than ever in
contemporary art.
One of the hallmarks of the genre-breaking art of the 1990’s was that artists focussed on communication, social spaces and everyday events. Within this form of “reality-hungry” art, photography as a medium has played a major role in 20th century art photography. Many artists use photography as a way to explore the general in the personal. Solbakken uses references from reality, but he deconstructs the context to form a new and surreal reality. Whether the references are taken from Egypt or from cities in Norway or the USA, we get to meet something completely new. The images express a kind of utopian worldview, while the artist challenges the status quo. The images are arranged, but we accept this illusion of reality because of Solbakken’s
compositional choices. He manages to challenge the concept of authenticity: is it real situations we see, you ask after a first glance. When you look closer, the surreal elements come to the fore. It is the awareness of real things that is often verified by means of photography.
If you have a dresser in the backyard, it’s only when you see a photograph of the backyard that you become conscious of the object. This is a contrasting view, seen in relation to our digital media world where truth is fragmented. Contemporary art often focuses on what exists between the visible and invisible, the real and unreal.
When we look at a photograph, we say that it shows the truth. That this man once really lived. When we are moved, it is due to this truth. Of course, photography is not true, for instance it is black and white. But it always exists in a special relation to the truth and to someone who really has lived. In a painted portrait, this relationship is not so strong. The photograph is a form of evidence.
(The Light Chamber, Christian Boltanski)
The world is constantly changing, and we are constantly looking for the new. The photograph may play a role by representing a temporary suspension of time, and can function in a dialectical, history-recalling process. Alf Solbakken’s photo collages refer to a fragmented reality, but at the same time they represent a kind of staging and can be seen as a part of a tradition that appeared in the 1990’s as a consequence of new technological opportunities. The general symbolism of Solbakken’s universe consists of money and weapons, mixed with a cocktail of people, houses, animals, and objects from popular culture. His anarchistic thinking circles around the idea that the world is ruled by capital and weapons, a social critique that can clearly be read in his images. On the other hand, the seagull is a recurring image. It represents freedom, and as he himself says, “the only animal that can still be seen in the city, besides pets.”
Solbakken wants to show us a “gritty” world, where we live together in harmony and disharmony. His visual language is playful, but at the same time critical. Solbakken shows a fascination with reality, and at the same time we see surreal references that may point to a new vision of the future? Everything is at once familiar and alien.
Text: Mette-Line Pedersen, art historian Translation: Erik Honoré
NYC - 1. 2012 NYC - 26A. 2012 Yellow Bridge. 2013
Visit/contact
poncajazzrec.no/alfsolbakken fineart.no
gallerisult.no flickr.com
