Abstraction attraction. Why I get tens of thousands of dollar$ for my paintings.

Turning things on its head can help to make sense of what seems like nonsense. This is how some abstract art works.



This painting above, Melting into Water,  was the first painting I made using abstract philosophy.
If you wish to know the full meaning of the painting then read on.
If not then I hope you at least like the painting.
At the bottom is a one minute film showing details of the work.
Below is me stood next to the work at an exhibition in Oslo.

One day Wassily Kandinsky went into a gallery where his paintings were being exhibited. One painting immediately caught his attention and he stared at the painting for a long time. He thought that it was without doubt the best painting he had ever created but the problem was he just could remember ever painting it. But then he realized that the gallery curator had hung the painting upside down.

At first one might think that this proves that abstract art is all nonsense.
Indeed, the majority of it is. However this is only because much of the art viewing public have lost sight of what abstract art is really about and how it was born. 

In the case of Kandinsky this little incident changed the direction of his work and the course of art history as he then went on to invent Abstract Expressionism.



What dawned upon Kandinsky that day was that a space, an area, in this case the flat surface of a canvas, did not necessarily have to be viewed at from one particular angle.

For example, what if the painting were laid flat on the floor and the viewer looked at if from above? In that way the painting would have no a top or no bottom, but merely a surface. 

This idea was nothing short of a revolution in art history and as such I believe Kandinsky truly is one of the God fathers of modern art. 

For many years I thought abstract art was utter nonsense until I discovered Kandinsky.
In fact, once you understand Kandinsky you pretty understand all abstract art and can tell if it is nonsense or extremely clever.
I do not paint like Kandinsky but there is no doubt that he enlightened me to view art, as well as my own work in a different way.  The painting I wish to highlight in this post was the first painting I created in direct response from this enlightenment.

At the beginning of my art journey I painted in the style known as photo-realism. See below.

It took many years to be able paint like a photograph and I was proud of my skills. But then one day I was in a gallery looking at a Kandinsky painting in the flesh. I will be honest and confess that I did not have a clue what the hell I was looking at.
Then this guy, who was stood next to me, said:
"What a masterpiece. Is it not amazing how he captures the 1905 Russian uprising in such a dramatic way."

Well I looked at the guy as though  he was some kind of pompous git.
Normally I would have just nodded but his time I could not keep my mouth shut;
"Im sorry but it just looks like nonsense to me"  I said.

"Ah you are not familiar with Kandinsky. But look here my friend, see how the Cossack jumps out at you with his sword, see just there."  He said, and proceeded to use his finger to highlight a section of the image.

What happened next I will remember for as long as I live. 

For suddenly, as if by magic, the whole painting made sense. I mean I could "see" everything so clearly, it was quite miraculous. I was so much affected that I literally began losing my breath as if I had been running at some distance. 

After that there was no turning back and I decided to literally start again from the beginning. I realized that although being able to paint like a photograph demonstrated skill, that was actually all it did. I realized that I was an individual human being and not a gadget to produce photo-like images. That was the job of the camera and it could never be beaten at doing this and at a million times faster.

I began to look at nature and I saw that we were surrounded by abstraction everywhere.
Shadows, light illusions, pattern illusions and simple reflections. 

After many hours days, months experimenting and trying out techniques, I found that my work became a combination of realism and abstraction. I came to this entirely on my own and then later discovered that other artists had also arrived at the same way of working.  
Today it is known as Abstract realism.  
Close up below

The idea about this painting came to me after I saw my girlfriend swimming naked in the ocean when we were on vacation in Italy. As she swam underwater I watched her body distort as though she had melted into the water.

Later, when we returned back to Norway, I began looking at reflections of the mountains on the surface of the fjord and I noticed that if I used my hand to exclude the boundary,then it created a natural abstract image.

Now have look at my painting turned upside down (below).
Can you see that the above section no longer looks abstract?




If this surprised you, then it is a tiny example of what I experienced on that day with the Kandinsky painting. However, Kandinsky´s  work is a 100 times more powerful.

Now have an even closer look at some details. Below


To create this surface affect is not easy.
It is my trade secret and it is the reason why my paintings sell for tens of thousands of dollar$.
For no digital technology can re-create this. 

You can see it on the screen, yes, but when you are standing there and have it right in front of you, then the ambiguous surface literally makes your body tingle.
Quite a number of, so called professional artists, have tried to steal this technique but failed.

When I first I first hung the painting in my gallery it had quite a reaction.
An art dealer from San Fransisco came in and warned me that some artists may try to steal the technique. Well as if he had been psychic, a month later his warning came true.

One day I came into my gallery after having lunch, and I saw two guys taking pictures of this painting.
Apart from the fact that this is not allowed, what caught my was that they a top of the range camera with a special lens. And they were taking close ups of every inch of the painting.

"Hi, what are you doing" I asked in a  friendly  tone.

"Oh hi, we are two professional artists from New York and we have never seen anything like this technique before and Im not sure how he does it. So we are taking close ups and then later we can analyze it and try to dissect it."  One said, who was holding the camera. 

Can you believe how blatant they were about actually stealing?
I would say they were in their early 30s and they obviously did not know that I was the actual artist who had painted it. I was furious but I played along.

"Wow. Could I have a look at how the details look like?  I have one those cameras myself so I know how to use it.?"  I politely asked.

"Sure sure, here take a look see" He replied and handed me his camera.

I saw that he had taken about forty close ups and one by one I selected them all and pressed delete.

"Now I must inform you that I am the artist who painted this painting and as professional artists yourselves  you must know full well that what are doing is blatant stealing. Such matters are taken seriously here in Norway.
I have deleted the images and be thankful that this is the only action I will be taking.
Now if you dont mind could you both leave" I said, and handed him back his camera.

Since then this happened 4 times. Such is the state of stealing that is the art world today.

To combat this stealing, I have invented one more secret surprises that is contained in all my paintings and is actually in plain sight but you can not see until told about it.
I only revealed it when a person buys the original painting.
I never ever ever tell of what it is and and make the new owners swear  to secrecy.
But just to say that when people see it they are always blown away and it is so great to see their reaction.
If people are willing to high prices for my work then I want them t be rewarded by knowing that it can not be copied.

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Thank you for taking the time to read and for visiting my blog.
A warm welcome back next time.