"Norway - Russia. Pilgrimage of the artist." Exhibition of works by Kiel Par-Iversen

The City Hall of Stavanger (Kingdom of Norway), the Kjell Pahr-Iversen Foundation, the Russian Academy of Arts with the support of the Amare Gallery, SpareBank and the Rogoland Country Council present Kiel Par-Iversen’s anniversary exhibition Norway - Russia. Pilgrimage of the artist. "

For the first time in Russia, more than 70 works of easel painting and graphics by the famous Norwegian abstract artist will be shown.

The Horseman (1962)

Kjel Par-Iversen is the leading artist in his hometown of Stavanger and one of the most significant representatives of modern abstraction in Norway. He was educated at the Academies of Fine Arts in Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands, adding to his work in the studios and art residences of Paris and Amsterdam.

Kjel Par-Iversen belongs to the second post-war generation of Norwegian artists who were influenced by the European avant-garde movement “Cobra”, the abstract painting of the “New Paris School” and the American line of abstract expressionism. Over sixty years of creative activity, he constantly turns to these main directions in the art of modernism of the middle of the 20th century. The international nature of its development and the variety of ways and methods of working with form, color and space determined the content and context on the basis of which Kjel Par-Iversen created his own language, artistic style and technique.

The sounds of trumpet and harp I (2017)

The artist borrows three central motives of his work from anatomy, botany and Christian culture: “Columna vertebralis” - the spine, “Herbarium” - the typology of plants and “Icon” - the images-intermediaries between the “mountain” and “dolny” worlds. Based on the traditions of Russian Orthodox icon painting, the series develops the idea of the “spiritual” by means of easel paintings. Comprehending the problems of the canon, the artist combines the original features of Norwegian fine art with the programmatic desire for abstraction to create an autonomous form and isolate a sensual, in this case, religious object. The artist creates a series that gradually reveals a new topic from the perspective of an optimistic view of the evolution of nature, where there is no place for the victim, traumatic selection and internal catastrophes. Find a suitable expression to convey the dynamics of life growth, regardless of the fact that it is expression of the icon and religious contemplation or microcosm of plants. But Kjel Par-Iversen does not give a final answer to his search, leaving the geography of his pilgrimage in the sphere of sacred complicity.

Having been educated first as a graphic artist, Kiel Par-Iversen is engaged in drawing. His graphic works and watercolors are widely known. In addition to the pictorial series, the exhibition features a number of figurative drawings from different years.

Sulamita I (2007)

Icon IV (1987)

The Man and the Angel I (1996)

Pentecost III (1968)

Beginning of illustrations for the work of Nikolai Leskov (2013)

Icon XVI (2014)