Sure, summer is rearing its dreaded head right around the corner (80 degrees in May?-- Sure! Why not? Bring it on.), but right about now I'm fascinated with winter all over again-- at least the enchanted winter of Currier & Ives, or work that reminds me of the modern day team of Walter Martin and Paloma Munoz's wondrous snowglobe creations, or maybe even Rudolph's claymation kitsch. To this day I have the image of those perfect dimples permanently frozen into my memory of Sonja Henie spinning on skates. Perhaps this winter was far too short yet again for me, or the fact that the amount of snow that fell in the New York area was minimal at best, but to me, Norwegian artist Roy Andreas Dahl's work epitomizes all that is beautiful about winter. Utilizing the beauty of his native land of Fjords, windswept flatlands and snow-capped mountaintops, his work is a hushed voice to the harsh reality of our current times.
Dahl, who recently had an exhibit at Trygve Lie Gallery in Manhattan, has such a softness to his brushwork and the pieces are so luminous they almost seem to float. They barely need professional lighting to convey the emotion attached to the imagery. In No. 11, Heavenly Night above, there is such a sense of isolation. Only the stars above light our long and arduous pathway to the village ahead.
And while looking at the young lady below, No. 23, Under the Stars, there's such a moment of nostalgia at play. The shooting star racing across the blue night sky, it's almost reminiscent of the best years of Walt Disney. Jiminy Cricket prompts us for a wish, but my only wish is that winter were here again.
Just some lovely and beautifully painted work.
Check out more of Dahl's blurred sentimentality at his website.
1 comment:
Great one - especially liked his work...
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