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Black, silver and yellow acrylic on fibreboard, size 60x40cm. From a series of impasto paintings in fusionist style. The Benz-painting was painted in my studio in Sweden during autumn 2022. My impasto acrylic paintings takes around two weeks to dry.
A granduncle of mine from New York, born in Norway, participated with U.S. troops in three major events during World War 2. First – Operation Husky – the landing of allied troops in Sicily July 10, 1943. Second – Operation Overlord & Neptune – the landing of allied troops in Normandy on D-Day June 6, 1944. And third – The Ardennes Offensive – December 1944.
My granduncle was married to the sister of my grandfather. My grandfather was captured by the Germans in the Antarctica 1941 along with Norwegian whalers, and sent to concentration camp in Germany. He came home later during the war. His father, my great grandfather, was killed by the Germans in the English Channel in the First World War. As we are approaching the 75 years anniversary of D-Day, we should remember the heroes of WW2. Some facts from Wikipedia: The Normandy landings were the landing operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Code-named Operation Neptune and often referred to as D-Day, it was the largest seaborne invasion in history. The operation began the liberation of German-occupied France (and later Europe) from Nazi control, and laid the foundations of the Allied victory on the Western Front. These anniversary posters are available here: https://www.redbubble.com/people/artyardacademy/collections/1113147-d-day-anniversary?asc=u
The painting Hippie Van in Snow shows a Volkswagen Hippie Van completely covered in snow. The car belonged to some idealistic hippie-like youths living next door to my studio. They had worked on restoring the car for at least two years. I knocked on their door to warn them about the amount of snow on the roof, advising them to move the vehicle as quick as possible. But they didn't listen. And the roof avalanche came down shortly after, smashing the front window and the cabin, causing another nostalgic year of restorement.
One of my T-bone sculptures similar to this was stolen from Oslo's leading contemporary art gallery, Kunstnernes Hus, during springtime 1984. My T-bone sculptures in painted clay were considered among the most original sculptures in Norway by the early 1980s. I recall a gallery in fact believed one of my T-bone sculptures was a T-bone in flesh and blood, and asked if it was added preservation? I had to explain that it was a combined painting/clay sculpture. They were a little impressed, I noticed, which made me think that art is mostly about illusion. Like the creative Andy Warhol who - despite what most people think - never actually met Marilyn Monroe, but only photomechanically manipulated a filmstar photo of her. So that's another illusion. Art is about illusion, on every level. |
Hans Egil SæleBorn 1954, Norway. Artist. Lutheran. Archives
May 2023
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