ALF
SOLBAKKEN
2010 - 2013
Alf Solbakken
1960, Bodø, Norway
Exhibitions
Permanent display
2012Galleri SultStavanger
2012Galleri HaavikKristiansand
2007By-LarmTrondheim
2007 LuihnKristiansand
2007 Agder Kunstnersenter
Kristiansand
2006 Frk Larsen
Kristiansand
2005 PaddysKristiansand
2000 Galleri Sting
Stavanger
1999 Clodion Cafe
Oslo
1998 The Quart Festival
Kristiansand
1998 Galleri 3
Kristiansand
1997 Tollbodgt 3
Kristiansand
1997 Galleri Sting
Stavanger
1997 Bakgården Bar
Kristiansand
1996 The Quart Festival
Kristiansand
1996 Vigeland Hovedgård
Vennesla
1994BarbeintOslo
1992 Barbeint
Oslo
1992 Galleri Sting
Stavanger
1988
Galleri Sting
Stavanger
1985Cafe De StijlOslo
1985SørlandsutstillingenKristiansand
1984SørlandsutstillingenKristiansand
2010 -FishmarkedKristiansand
2008 -HaandverkerenKristiansand
2007 -Både &Kristiansand
2007 -Herlige LandKristiansand
1999 - Quart Hotel
Kristiansand
1997 -Fønix KinoKristiansand
1994 - 2009 Ernst Park Hotel
Kristiansand
1991 - 1997 Markens Brød & Sirkus Kristiansand
1986 - 1993 Rockefeller Music Hall Oslo
1984 - 1998 Kick Cafe
Kristiansand
Group shows
New York, Paris, Cape Town, Oslo, Stavanger
and Kristiansand
Design LP/CD cover: Jan Bang, Erik Honoré, Lee Konitz
Jon Hassell, Hilde Hefte, Egil Kapstad, Janki Transeth
Quart 04, Einar Iversen, Entusijazzme, Halgeir Pedersen
Sidsel Endresen, Tom Olstad, Rolf Kristensen, Frank Kvinge
Johnny Augland, Darkside Of The Forc, Salvador Sanchez
Necessary, Nest, Munch, Ave, Woodlands, Nutopia
Tenderleaves, Sgrow
Design material /photo for The Punkt Festival
The Quart Festival, Ponca Jazz Records, Odderøya Live
Ordskifte, Karmakosmetix, T23
Photo: Coca Cola, Die Zeit, Dagbladet, NRK, Arve Henriksen
Jan Bang, Erik Honoré, John Paul Jones, Salvador Sanchez
Tenderleaves, Blood red throne, Hilde Hefte, Egil Kapstad
Quartfestival, The Punkt Festival, VG, Fedrelandsvennen
Cappelen Damm, Southern Discomfort, Ravnebarn
Visit/contact
poncajazzrec.no/alfsolbakken
fineart.no
gallerisult.no
flickr.com
Alf Solbakken
Alf Solbakken is an artist from Kristiansand, Norway, who started his career as a painter in the early 1980’s. In the 90’s he also began to use photography
as a medium, and his combination of photography and painting has resulted in a unique expression.
Solbakken’s background as a musician in the avant-garde band Munch, and the spirit of this music, is clearly reflected in his artistic career. As is the case
with his musical background, his photography stays outside of the dominant trends and can be difficult to place within contemporary main genres or within
simplistic representations that create a notion of clear correlations and linear development. Artists who fall outside this kind of storytelling often have the
ability to convey distinctive and personal images of the world, images that resonate with a wide audience once they get attention. (In a Norwegian context,
artists such as Odd Nerdrum and Einar Sigstad are examples of this tendency.)
Alf Solbakken relates his work to the media reality of popular culture, and his characteristic style is difficult to cathegorize. He works digitally with
photography, and applies his knowledge and skills in a playful way. Solbakken’s imagery refers to both art history and popular culture. He says he is inspired
by the early history of art, and mentions the Cobra art movement as a source of inspiration. We see references to landscape and genre painting, pop art,
socially engaged art and advertising in his genre-breaking works. He travels around the world photographing and transforming reality, placing animals, UFOs,
planes, money and buildings into a new image universe on his computer.
In the theoretical discussions of the 1970’s and 80’s, the status of the photograph as a witness was decomposed. Any photographic truth was
deconstructed, and the photograph was revealed as an opportunistic medium which since its birth had been used to construct lies and false images of
human identity, etc. But even if it was denied that the photograph should have a special claim on reality, photography is used more than ever in
contemporary art.
One of the hallmarks of the genre-breaking art of the 1990’s was that artists focussed on communication, social spaces and everyday events. Within this
form of “reality-hungry” art, photography as a medium has played a major role in 20th century art photography. Many artists use photography as a way to
explore the general in the personal. Solbakken uses references from reality, but he deconstructs the context to form a new and surreal reality. Whether
the references are taken from Egypt or from cities in Norway or the USA, we get to meet something completely new. The images express a kind of utopian
worldview, while the artist challenges the status quo. The images are arranged, but we accept this illusion of reality because of Solbakken’s
compositional choices. He manages to challenge the concept of authenticity: is it real situations we see, you ask after a first glance. When you look closer,
the surreal elements come to the fore. It is the awareness of real things that is often verified by means of photography.
If you have a dresser in the backyard, it’s only when you see a photograph of the backyard that you become conscious of the object. This is a contrasting view,
seen in relation to our digital media world where truth is fragmented. Contemporary art often focuses on what exists between the visible and invisible, the
real and unreal.
When we look at a photograph, we say that it shows the truth. That this man once really lived. When we are moved, it is due to this truth. Of course, photography
is not true, for instance it is black and white. But it always exists in a special relation to the truth and to someone who really has lived. In a painted portrait, this
relationship is not so strong. The photograph is a form of evidence.
(The Light Chamber, Christian Boltanski)
The world is constantly changing, and we are constantly looking for the new. The photograph may play a role by representing a temporary suspension of
time, and can function in a dialectical, history-recalling process. Alf Solbakken’s photo collages refer to a fragmented reality, but at the same time they
represent a kind of staging and can be seen as a part of a tradition that appeared in the 1990’s as a consequence of new technological opportunities. The
general symbolism of Solbakken’s universe consists of money and weapons, mixed with a cocktail of people, houses, animals, and objects from popular
culture. His anarchistic thinking circles around the idea that the world is ruled by capital and weapons, a social critique that can clearly be read in his images.
On the other hand, the seagull is a recurring image. It represents freedom, and as he himself says, “the only animal that can still be seen in the city, besides pets.”
Solbakken wants to show us a “gritty” world, where we live together in harmony and disharmony. His visual language is playful, but at the same time critical.
Solbakken shows a fascination with reality, and at the same time we see surreal references that may point to a new vision of the future? Everything is at
once familiar and alien.
Text: Mette-Line Pedersen, art historian
Translation: Erik Honoré
Yellow Bridge. 2013
NYC - 1. 2012
NYC - 26A. 2012
Dance 1 - 5. Model: Terje Paulsen. MaiJazz. 2013
Dansere: 1 - 6. MaiJazz. 2013
Stavanger - 2. 2013
Stavanger. 2012
Markens. 2013
Cathedral. 2013
Kirkegata. 2013
Tollbodgata. 2013
Kongens. 2013
Rome - 2. 2013
Istanbul - 2. 2012
Cairo. 2012
Pope. 2012
Rome. 2012
2012
Lex. 2013
Dakota front. 2012
Dakota. 2011
Rådhus. 2011
Townhall. 2011
Nice. 2011
Spenn 1E. 2010
Spenn 1J. 2010
Altarpiece. 2010
Visit/contact
poncajazzrec.no/alfsolbakken
fineart.no
gallerisult.no
flickr.com