Meditative Artworks
At Next House Copenhagen, you can find beautiful artworks by David Utzon and Ege Arp-Hansen.
David Utzon - Strøget and Fladen
At Next House Copenhagen, you can find a series of expressive and colorful paintings made by the artist David Utzon. In the text below called ’Strøget and Fladen,’ David Utzon has described his art in his own words.
Strøget and Fladen
These are the two elements that I have explored after a long period of work - the combination of the two - simplicity, everything else in this combinatorial context is irrelevant. Of course, there are many other alternatives, but the power that these two concepts can possess in their simplicity is infinite - as art should be. In addition, the simpler, the more pure it can be, simplicity being the other absolute in art, combined with Strøget and Fladen, it can create an infinite world. It is the combination of these two things that I have touched upon. I am just beginning, like Tapies or others who demand simple calligraphy, emphasizing infinity but also purity, which together are great strength. These efforts emerge in my works but are also my unique fingerprint, my signature, or a kind of signature without a signature. It is to choose to refrain from choosing and to find one’s way through to purity - it requires great almost infinite demands to reach the origin or essence of all art. From cave paintings to infinite complexity, it can be called calligraphic complexity. Another way to say it is, why are we here, where are we going. In short, to choose to refrain from choosing.
Ege Arp-Hansen
”Known world unknown” a work in two parts, created for the lounge area at Next House Copenhagen.
My immediate wish is for the paintings to harmoniously blend in and enhance the tranquility of the lounge area, where the house’s traveling guests can sit and relax, chat, meet other guests, or simply unwind and let their thoughts wander before venturing out into the city and the world.
Like most of my works, these also have a meditative function at their core. They do not depict anything specific. They are created to bring joy and pleasure to the imagination. They are mood, color and forms that invite the eye and mind to explore.
The paintings are built up of many partially transparent layers. The topmost being dark reddish-brown, consisting of broad, rhythmic, elongated, beam-like strokes inspired by the architecture of the house: the beautiful exterior cladding of square brass plates and the lush vertical gardens, as well as the interior, monumental spatial sequences with walls and columns in raw, gray, cast-in-place concrete and regular elongated imprints of grain and knots from boards used to construct the forms.
In terms of color, I primarily drew inspiration from the cozy atmosphere already created in the lounge area with the three large, golden-brown leather sofas, the subdued, calm natural colors and materials, the green plants, and the golden, meditative ”fire” in the fireplace, as well as the clear, bluish daylight coming from the north-northwest-facing windows, which is further intensified by the asphalt of the roads.
To provide a counterbalance to these given circumstances, I chose deep, transparent, reddish-brown colors, which, together with layers of golden-brown ash, soot, and black charcoal, also referencing the ”fire” in the fireplace, contribute to creating a warm and cozy atmosphere in the area.
The paintings are large but not dominant in their colors. You can see them, but they do not attract all the attention. If you find them interesting, you can explore their many layers, but you are not forced to take a stance on them.
I am pleased with the result and hope that the paintings will bring joy to many of Next House’s guests.
Ege Arp-Hansen
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