OSL CONTEMPORARY

On now

• For his second exhibition at OSL contemporary, Sørensen presents a continuation of the series titled A Warm Afternoon that were presented at the gallery in 2023. In these earlier works that drew inspiration from the dramatic panoramic tableau vivant’s depicting battle scenes from the 1800s, the artist developed a distinct visual language that captured his observations of people dwelling in Tjuvholmen, a new urban park located outside the Astrup Fearnley Museum in Oslo. Unlike the dense mass of interlocking bodies clad in bathing suits that fail to be contained within the confines of the canvas, Sørensen’s new paintings mark a departure from the soft colour palette and loose washes of thinned pigment to much deeper, muted abstract compositions. Seemingly sharing the formal aesthetics of eighteenth-century Romanticism and colour-field painting from the late 1950s, these paintings retain a radical simplicity and dreamlike allure that embrace a painterly quality. Figures emerge from lurid green canvases coupled with gestural black lines or soft painterly marks that demarcate the luscious grass, tree canopies, the horizon, the sea or the sky. Some feel cartoony, while others recall the dynamic painted skies of J.M.W Turner. "These aren’t necessarily figurative" Sørensen explains, "but are compositions made up with bodies." Rather than attempting to capture the likeness or identity of the individuals depicted, Sørensen focuses on the atmosphere of a place through an investigation of form, line and brushwork resulting in unexpected configurations. In these brooding landscapes, often contained within floating and irregular rectangular shapes of colour, Sørensen zooms out from the bodies that occupy these sites of public recreation and instead attempts to capture the essence of the park. Whilst these paintings are focused on a specific park in Oslo—one that the artist passes often—there are no identifiable buildings or motifs that root them in a specific place, time or context. Marked by a depth of green (or in some instances golden yellow that are suggestive of sun-scorched lawns) and accents of blue, brown and white, there is a certain rhythm found within the series as he begins to negotiate between nature and the urban landscape that surrounds it. Peppered throughout, they are seen huddled together in groups or alone—heightened further by the sparsity of the composition s. A tension is formed and the scenes almost become voyeuristic. Nearly all of them have their backs facing us, forcing the viewer into the scene to observe their behaviour or their perspective. Others have an avoidant gaze: they look out to the distance, converse, scroll on their phone, sunbathe, recline and rest. They’re not overly fussy or stylised, no distinguishing features. In some instances, their limbs faintly appear through simple swoops of paint, almost dissolving into the park itself.
  Description

  Thorbjørn Sørensen Lurid Green Canvases

  Until 26 Oct 2026

  
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