Anne-Karin Furunes
11 Mar - 02 Apr 2006
ANNE-KARIN FURUNES
"Pictures of Portraits / Finland 1918"
Anne-Karin Furunes is a Norwegian painter known for her works employing perforation technique. Based on photographs, these pieces have a black or white canvas perforated by the artist in imitation of the screen of a photograph. On the one hand, Furunes's works are paintings dwelling in light, while on the other hand they express the authenticity and intensity of early beautiful monochrome photographs.
The works of the present exhibition are based on photographs that the artist discovered while studying military archives in Finland. She selected the faces of twelve young women from among thousands of photographs. Closely cropping the images to show only the facial features and the subject's intense gaze. These young women of soft features look like the heroines of silent film, but they are women soldiers who fought on the Red side in the Finnish Civil War of 1918. They were the soldiers of faith of their own time, willing to sacrifice everything, including their lives, for a better world.
Anne-Karin Furunes is one of Norway's most highly regarded artists. Her works are in countless public and private collections in both Norway and abroad, and she has also produced a large number significant public works.
Ilona Anhava
© Anne-Karin Furunes
PICTURES OF PORTRAITS I / FINLAND 1918, 2006
acrylic on canvas, perforated, 160 x 160 cm
"Pictures of Portraits / Finland 1918"
Anne-Karin Furunes is a Norwegian painter known for her works employing perforation technique. Based on photographs, these pieces have a black or white canvas perforated by the artist in imitation of the screen of a photograph. On the one hand, Furunes's works are paintings dwelling in light, while on the other hand they express the authenticity and intensity of early beautiful monochrome photographs.
The works of the present exhibition are based on photographs that the artist discovered while studying military archives in Finland. She selected the faces of twelve young women from among thousands of photographs. Closely cropping the images to show only the facial features and the subject's intense gaze. These young women of soft features look like the heroines of silent film, but they are women soldiers who fought on the Red side in the Finnish Civil War of 1918. They were the soldiers of faith of their own time, willing to sacrifice everything, including their lives, for a better world.
Anne-Karin Furunes is one of Norway's most highly regarded artists. Her works are in countless public and private collections in both Norway and abroad, and she has also produced a large number significant public works.
Ilona Anhava
© Anne-Karin Furunes
PICTURES OF PORTRAITS I / FINLAND 1918, 2006
acrylic on canvas, perforated, 160 x 160 cm