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1.) We’re excited to be speaking today with celebrated Norwegian artist Danny Larsen; greetings and salutations, Danny! Before we dive down the proverbial Q&A rabbit hole, how have the final months of 2022 been treating you?
I would say pretty good. It’s been a hectic period of finishing up my new show, but it’s been a good kind of hectic. My life has mainly circled around finishing the show, getting enough rest, and not rely too heavily on coffee and wine to cope with it. At least I managed to finish the show.
2.) Congratulations on your upcoming November 26-January 7 debut solo exhibition of From The Shadows which will be hosted at the RedHouse Gallery in Harrogate! What was the road and/or genesis which ultimately led you to this milestone on your professional and personal life?
Thanks, well, everything I guess. I have not the faintest clue to where we can say this started, I feel like it’s been a natural evolution since I did my cops and robbers drawings as a kid. And even though I feel like we put on something quite special, I see it more as a snapshot of where I now than a milestone, milestone somehow feels like an end of a chapter, but the next painting is already the natural continuation of this show.
3.) From start to finish, about how long of a period of time does From The Shadows encompass? Do your paintings and drawings in the new exhibit go back some time?
I started working on this show the moment I delivered my last painting for my last solo show at the The Kittelsen museum, about one and a half year ago. As I chipped away at it, I realized I wanted to include some earlier works on paper that would strengthen the overall impression. These felt almost like the foundation of what I had created now, the first few glimpses from the shadows.
4.) Is it at all surreal to be in the position of showing your debut solo exhibition to the public?
It feels pretty natural, but at the same time rather, yeah, I guess surreal is a good word. All of these paintings have been made one by one with no overall theme in mind. As each was painted, I treated it as the most important painting in the show, kinda like the whole show would rely on this one painting. Now as they all hang together, and I get to see them on equal terms, I’m rediscovering them and seeing it all in a new light , and I think that’s probably the coolest thing about it.
5.) From The Shadows feels like an appropriate moniker for your jaw-dropping art in this solo exhibit. Were there ever any other titles in play for the exhibit, or was it destined to always be From The Shadows?
From the shadows was the title from the beginning, and I had no other suggestions. Like a love letter written in the shadows, to remind us of all the wonderful things we forget to see.
6.) How did your 2021 sold-out exhibition at Norway’s Kittelsen Museum prepare you for the upcoming RedHouse Gallery exhibit?
As I walked through the museum as the show was being hung, I got a strong sense of what the next painting should be. I was really happy with how it looked, and it wouldn’t fit in there, but there was a feeling of what I needed to tell next. I started with one painting, Flowers by the forest road, and I based it all on that. Each painting is in conversation with its predecessor, kinda like dessert is somewhat the reply to dinner, or possibly some heavy drinks. So it prepared me by letting me see what needed to be next. A show is just a show, it’s all the individual paintings that make it something special.
7.) How did you land upon one of the things which is now considered a part of your signature style, the distinctive neo-pointillist style?
A result of trying to figure out how to print drawings of fog on t-shirts as cheaply as possible. That’s how it started, and then I fell in love with the possibilities that come with strong limitations. I decided that I could do whatever I felt like as long as I only used solid black to create it. Now it has taken on way more meaning, but originally it was to make cheap band t-shirts.
8.) How important are your rural Oslo roots to the amazing art which you create?
It’s hard to tell, because I never experienced anything else. I mean, I have travelled the world as a pro snowboarder for 15 years. I saw so much of the world and met so many wonderful people. But I always saw it through the eyes of someone who grew up in the woods in the outskirts of Oslo. What I did come to see though was that we’re all the same, no matter where I went. People have the same dreams, hopes and fears. So that leads me to believe that where I grew up isn’t that significant. The important part is to be able to see the beauty of it all, and it’s perhaps hardest to see that about where you grew up because we grow so accustomed to it, we take it for granted. The reason why my paintings focus mainly on this now is because this is where I live, this is what I see, there’s no point in crossing the river for water. Every single day I force myself to see, how wonderful the things I see every day, are.
9.) Which artists have been a major inspiration for your own work?
I guess everything is an inspiration, but I don’t have anyone I am consciously inspired by. My main inspiration comes from the realization that everything is subjective, and we can choose how we see reality. Music on the other hand is a strong inspiration, Nick Cave, Wardruna and black metal.. and the books of Fyodor Dostoevsky. Fuck. Might as well throw Rembrandt, Van Gogh and Turner in there as well.
10.) What do you hope that people who visit your new exhibit at the RedHouse Gallery walk away with after viewing your incredible art?
An empty beer and a stolen poster..
No..
An appreciation of the mundane.
11.) What does your work process look like on any given day? Do you hold yourself to a strict regimen, or do you only paint when the spirit moves you?
I used to work 15 hours a day, but stepped down to a normal work week, I was just not able to keep my focus, and these paintings demand quite a lot of focus. So I chose to stick to normal office hours, giving myself rest and time to spend with my family. It sounds like the easy thing to do, but to walk away from a painting and knowing I can’t work at it until 8.30 next morning is truly painful, but I’m convinced of it and I benefit from it.
12.) Any final thoughts that you would like to share regarding your art and the upcoming RedHouse Gallery exhibition?
Please stop by, I think it turned out pretty good.
