Fredrik Værslev - Contemporary Art Evening Sale London Sunday, February 9, 2014 | Phillips
  • Provenance

    Standard (Oslo), Oslo

  • Literature

    Fredrik Vaerslev: the rich man’s breakfast, the shopkeeper’s lunch, the poor man’s supper, 2012, standard (Books), p. 85 (illustrated in colour)

  • Catalogue Essay

    The Garden Paintings are a body of work by Norwegian artist Fredrik Værslev that represent the coalescence of architecture and art. Working through what has been described as an obsession with minute architectural details, the artists practice translates these notions into painting. Gardens, as an architectural motif, are Janus-faced: flora in nature once wild, are meticulously cultivated and compartmentalised within the context of a suburban garden. Thus, it becomes a frame for Værslev to explore divergent motifs further: from pattern and chance to something done and undone. While Værslev’s titular garden provides one frame, the appropriation of the wooden pallet supports another. The rudimentary platform, designed to withstand great pressures of weight, has been rendered obsolete by Værslev through its vertical orientation. The artists’ process, influenced in part by Pollock and Munch, involves a degree of chance, leaving pallets outdoors, exposed to the elements. Through the accumulation of marks and stains from both outdoor and studio processes, the final piece becomes emblematic of a space in-between two places. Værslev’s organic mark-making within the confines of a structured form allows these abstract paintings to emerge as a magnetic symbiosis of art, process and form.

1

Untitled (Frieze Garden Painting #02)

2011
house paint, enamel paint, spray paint and nails on pressure impregnated spruce, Siberian larch frame, steel support
140 x 89.3 x 29 cm. (55 x 35 x 11 1/2 in.)

Estimate
£20,000 - 30,000 

Sold for £48,750

Contact Specialist
Peter Sumner
Head of Contemporary Art, London
psumner@phillips.com
+44 207 318 4063

Contemporary Art Evening Sale

London Evening Sale 10 February 2014 7pm