A Tornado of Thoughts
All photos: Ace Oslo or Ole Fredrik Hvidsten.
Just a few days before his first solo-exhibition at Ace Oslo, we caught up with artist Ole Fredrik Hvidsten – and dipped into what he labels his tornado of thoughts.
Ambi: First of all, congrats on your first solo-exhibition. How are you feeling about it?
Ole Fredrik: I am feeling happy about it, but I am also a realist and have no expectations for the showing. For me, the paintings and sculptures was made as a result of using my sketchbook, and I showcase my sketches as originals.
I am pleased to know Adrian and Stian who are invested in this little project. Adrian, and his fondness for art, have bought a piece or two from me, and we are also prepping these paintings for firstDibs and the American market – which is kind of thrilling. It makes me happy having a project, killing several birds with one hot potato – and making sure it benefits a larger party.
The name of the exhibition "Dette går aldri over" loosely translates into "This will never pass", and is clearly a response to the last two years of living in a pandemic. How would you describe the theme of your exhibition? And how does the theme manifest in your work?
I first made a little pamphlet called «Hva er vitsen – refleksjoner i koronaens år» ("What’s the point – reflections in the year of corona) showing some of the drawings I made in 2020. As I have been using sketchbooks, both in a sober and not so sober state, for jotting down reflections and ideas for 15 years, I have a lot of material. And I have always thought: how can I use this for something more than just a journal? Covid was a perfect time for doing so, especially with the year 2020, showing reflections from my unfiltered mind. Of course, this just represents a small percentage of what I had to choose from, but there was no actual screening process to pick out the best sketches. The most important thing is that these are sketches or a combination, I have not fallen for the temptation of making them better; to refine; and therefore I am giving the sketchbook drawings a life as originals on a canvas.
“Ole’s work is first and foremost a visual memory of two dramatic years that have affected us all. Covid, and its consequences, have become a common point of reference that we will all talk about and bear remembrance to for a long time. But our memories are like life itself; dynamic and in constant change, often weakening with time, and can either ebb out or be reinforced. Ole’s drawings stand out as an anchor point for this common experience. ”
Any sort of crisis, whether personal or social, has a tendency to generate great art. The pandemic has clearly inspired you as an artist, but what has it been like – as an artist – to live through the pandemic?
Well, for me the pandemic has certainly been a topic, but not in the sense that it’s a topic I grabbed onto in order to make a conceptual project around that as a theme.
As many others I have just been living inside the womb of corona; staying alive as a virus connected to the pandemic. But I am happy to have place to go to, a job and a hobby making it possible for me to reflect around my contemporary life. I have been able to stay positive, but without these things; I would fall into a hole so deep it would be problematic to see any light, a claustrophobic tunnel.
I also must say, loosing most of my income as an illustrator under the pandemic, the support from the government, money-wise, has been good. I know a lot of people not so fortune in that department. Throwing the creative force under the buss will create something special, but by doing so we are also conveying how far down culture is placed on the governments pyramid of human need.
Looking at some of your titles, like «Demise of a too proud asshole» and «My mutated cat made me do it» it seems like you have a neck for wordplay. How do end up naming your pieces?
It is just a tornado of thoughts dancing through my mind, picking out Words. There is no big process behind the titles, but there is still reflection around the act of giving my pieces a title in this project. I think I end up, giving the title; in the same way most of my drawings are made, is impulsive and intuitive, I wrap the canvas in something that brings more to the art than just being a sticker and a name. But why I ended up with a lot of long titles? Well, it kind of just happened …
Do you have a favourite piece in the exhibition?
Well, it’s hard to pick out just one piece. If i could I would merge everything together and just keep that as a conceptual piece – I would have liked that. But as you mentioned «Demise of a too proud asshole», I must say I find this painting the strongest … some days …
Dette går aldri over
Ace Oslo, a newcomer to the Oslo art scene, promotes Hvidsten’s exhibition as a series of work from a time when pre-pandemic life slowly, but surly faded to memories, while the eagerness to get it back turned into a series of ups and downs. To meet friends, exercise, go to the movies or a bar; just the act of being social, tuned into an almost utopia. The exhibition captures Ole’s explorations on canvas, from a time when thee surge of the delta variant was at its worst – and we all felt like this would never pass.
See the exhibition at Ace Oslo 28-30. January.
Check out more of Ole Fredrik Hvidsten’s work here >