art Archives - Soldrøm

Edinburgh Castle – A fortress with many mysteries

26/03/2018

Edinburgh Castle -The History

Edinburgh Castle stands upon an extinct vulcano, and has been occupied since the late bronze age. But there has been a royal castle on the rock since 12th century in the reign of David I. The castle continued to be a royal residence until 1633.

From the 17th century is was primarelly used as military barracks. The castle has been involved in many historical conflicts, from The Wars of Scottish Independence in the 14th century, to the Jacobite Rising of 1745.

ALSO READ: Edinburgh -The Heart of Scotland

The 1100 year old building has been sieged at least 26 times, and are therefor «the most besieged place in Great Britain and one of the most attacked in the World».

How the building has survived is a miracle, but a true example of the Scottish pride.

The Great Hall in Edinburgh Castle

Today Edinburgh Castle is the most visited paid tourist attraction with over 1,4 million visitors every year. The annual Edinburgh Military Tattoo have become a symbol of the modern era of the castle.

The Haunting Castle on the Rock

Through the Old Town in Edinburgh, you’ll find the mainroad, Royal Mile. This longs treet takes you from the bottom of the hill, where you’ll find Holyroad Palace, to Edinburgh Castle on the top.

The castle can be seen from many parts of the city and stands a magnificent monument and a reminder of darker times.

Edinburgh is said to be one of the most haunted cities in the World, and the castle is no exception. Visitors of the castle have heard a phantom piper, a headless drummer, and the ghost of a dog.

ALSO READ: Fredriksborg Palace -The Fairytale Castle in Denmark

The cells of the ancient dungeon, is just one of the many places of uncounted deaths and places of unrest. There are said to be numerous spirits in Edinburgh Castle.

There have also been conducted studys in the castle, to see if there was any truth to all the ghost stories. Dr. Richard Wiseman and his team report included:

Seeing shadows and silhuettes
There was sudden drops in temperature
The feeling of beeing watched
Something unseen touched their face
The feeling of something tugging the clothes

Other places in Edinburgh with a ghostly reputation is the street Mary Kings Close where the victims of the black death were sealed up alive to die.

But the most creepy place in Edinburgh most be the vaults of South Bridge, of all this places this was the most «real». You feel unwelcomed (and paranoid?) almost immediately as you enter the vaults.

Here are some photos from Edinburgh Castle:

Five easy painting techniques -with videos

29/01/2018

Five easy painting techniques

Love painting? I do and I love how so many creative and fantastic people on YouTube share there techniques. I’ve found these five videos that are very easy to follow and with equipment I think most of us have at home.

Let’s get inspired!

Vanessa Baird at Kunstnernes Hus in Oslo

16/01/2018

Kunstnernes Hus

Kunstnernes Hus is an artist-run organisation in Oslo, that presents Norwegian and international contemporary art.

Kunstnernes Hus (KH) have been widely regarded as one of the most architectural expressions of classical modernism, the building was built in 1930. It’s close to the Royal Castle in Oslo, so it’s in the central part of town.

The building includes a new cinema, lecture halls, Torpedo Art Bookstore , The Felix Education and also hosts several other tenants, such as the Nordic art journal kunstkritikk.no and the Academy of Fine Art in Oslo.

Let’s not forget the Lofthus Samvirkelag Restaurant (I’ve heard there pizzaes are amazing).

KH is a therefor a atural gathering point for fellow artist and artlovers in the Oslo area.

The Exhibitions

The Vanessa Baird exhibition –”You are something else” was truly amazing. This is a site-spesific installation of her monumental chalk drawings.

You see how she uses characters from pop culture and fairy tales to tell a unsentimental and direct view of the political issues of the day.

Murakami Art -The Exhibition Murakami by Murakami

13/03/2017

Murakami art

You can find Murakami Art From February 10^th to May 14^th The Astrup Fearnley Museum of Contemporary Art in Oslo, opened a new exhibition called Murakami by Murakami. Also! This exhibition is curated by Murakami himself.

Takashi Murakami (b. 1962) from Tokyo shows some of his greatest work. Also among his own art, he has included parts of his big collection from Japanese history, like ceramic pots and antique Japanese teapots.

He attended the Tokyo University of the Arts to become an animator. We can see heavy influence of manga and animation in his art. At the University he eventually decided to major in Nihonga, which is the traditional style of Japanese painting.

Video from a previous Exhibition:

Murakami believes the contemporary art in Japan was too influnced by Western art. In 2000 he published his “Superflat” theory. With this he mixes the old traditional Japanese art (which is 2-dimensional) with modern themes from Japanese pop art.

The amazing thing with Murakami in his paintings are all the bright colours he uses. As well as a super glossy finish. High and low art is combined together and Murakami’s art is very unpretentious, which I personally like.

The statues he creates are very influenced by the Manga universe. They are extreme and fun, but his gold statue “Flames of Desire” was really, really amazing to look at. A beautiful work of art!

Murakami also directed this Kanye Wast video “Good Morning”.

He’s also an director and produces his own movies and animations, a multi artist with many, many talents.

Here are some (many) of the highlights from the Exhibition:

Watch the trailer of Murakamis big movie Jellyfish Eyes

urakami is a famous japanese artist. Murakami mixes traditional art with comtemporary art. history og japanese pop by Murakami. Murakami working with Kanye West. Murakami is a genius.

Charlottenborg Gallery

18/01/2015

Charlottenborg Gallery is one of the largest and most beautiful spaces for contemporary art in Europe. It’s right next to Nyhavn (the harbour) and King’s Square in Copenhagen.

The gallery shows everything from world class exhibitions, concerts and screening. The bookstore in the gallery also function as a platform for discussions and has many events, like “show and tell” and book talks around modern art.

The two exhibitions that were shown when I visited were by Keren Cytter and Rose English.

Charlottenborg palace was built in 1672 for the Norwegian governor Ulrik Fredrik Gyldenløve, the illegimate son of the Danish King Fredrik III. In 1754 The Royal Danish Art Academy took over the buidling. The pre-historic art gallery opened in 1883. And in the 1970s Charlottenborg underwent significant restoration and was renamed “Kunsthal Charlottenborg” in 2007.

If’s a beautiful building and the perfect place to show of beautiful art.

Keren Cytter

Colourful art, also by Keren Cytter

Keren Cytter

Rose English

Horse shoes from the Quadrille in 1975

My Mathematics, 1992

Also from My Mathematics in 1992

These wings are truly spectacular

The entrance to Charlottenborg Gallery

Thorvaldsen Museum

04/01/2015

Thorvalsen Museum in Denmark, is oldest and the most extraordinary museum building in Copenhagen. It opened in 1848 and houses almost all the sculpturs of Bertel Thorvaldsen.

Bertel Thorvalsen (1770-1844) most be one of Denmarks best known artists. He lives in Rome for 40 years and became one of the most inportant European representatives of neoclassicism in sculptural art.

Thorvaldens came back to Denmark in 1838, and it was a big celebration when his ship arrived in Copenhagen, the big artist had finally returned. The Museum was built from 1839 in the honour of Thorvaldsen, and opened nine years later, unfortunately that was 4 years after his death, so he never got to see it finished. The museum is in the heart of Copenhagen, not far from Tivoli and Glyptoteket, it’s right next tp Christianborg Palace, the old castle to the royal Family in Denmark.

The collection is huge and the sculptures are amazing, and I mean amazing. It’s one of mye favourites from now on. And some sculptures are huge! He was without a doubt very inspires by greek and roman mythology. But also have an incredible statue of Christ and the twelve apostles.

If you like breathtaking art and want to visit a beautiful museum in Copenhagen, I would highly recommend this.

See the whole collection here>>>

Józef Poniatowski, 1826-1827 and me

Maximilian 1., 1833-1835 and the pope Pius 7., 1824-1825

The Collection in the basement

The sleeping lion

Venus with the Apple, 1813-1816

Jason with the Golden Fleece, 1803

Christ, 1821 and the twelve apostles

It started to rain…

So much amazing ceilings in this museum

Upstairs there was a art collection, a coin collection and a small collection from ancient Egypt.

The Goddess of Hope

The Graces with Cupid’s Arrow, and Cupid Playing a Lyre, 1842

A different kind of Mermaid

Galleri F 15

29/08/2014

Punkt Ø- Galleri F 15 is one of Norway’s oldest art institutions contveying contemporary art. This amazing gallery you’ll find in Moss, a small city South of Oslo.

“The institution was created in 1966 as the first gallery of its kind; the name derives from the address, number 15 Fossen in Moss, the gallery’s first locale. A year later the roof blew off the old mill building and the gallery was allowed to rent the Main Building of the Alby Estate in the county of Moss. Galleri F 15 is still in a class by itself in as much as it is not-for-profit gallery receiving public funds, but not consisting of a permanent collection.”

From 21st June – 21st September it’s the exhibition “Mind the Map“, with works from 10 well-known international contemporary artist, that are shown. It includes selected maps dated back to the signing of the Convention of Moss in 1814. A historical time in Norway, when the de facto peace treaty secured the Norwegian constitution and led to the adoption of the personal union between Sweden and Norway.

“The historical maps will be complemented by a more comprehensive presentation of contemporary art featuring work by artists who work with cartography and maps either directly or in a more subtle manner, resulting in an exhibition that is political, poetic, conceptual and highly visual, revealing issues related to power and power structures and geopolitics seen from the perspective of a world in constant change.”

Galleri F 15 is surrounded by beautiful nature, the sea and a peaceful park. There is also a gift shop and café, so why not make a day out of it? You have to walk quite a bit to get to the gallery from your car, but with all this amazing nature and forest, it’s not a problem. You can also walk in the footsteps of Edvard Munch in this area.

The works in this exhibition are by Mona Hatoum (Lebanon), Bouchra Khalili (Morocco/France), Joyce Kozloff (USA), Miler Lagos (Colombia), Kevin Simón Mancera (Colombia), Julie Mehretu (USA), Fabio Morais (Brasil), Vik Muniz (Brasil), Rosana Ricalde (Brasil), Susan Stockwell (UK).

VISIT THE SITE HERE>

Ekebergparken

02/07/2014

“Ekebergparken is a sculpture and national Heritage park for the people of Oslo and visitors looking for a unique experience.”

The history of Ekeberg

Ekeberg (in Oslo) dates back all the way to year 8400 b.c. Petroglyphs dated back to 4500 b.c. are also found at Ekeberg. The Ekeberg area has a number of burial sites from different eras. Some may be as early as the Bronze Age, but most of them probably originate from the early Iron Age and the Viking Age, 500 – 900 AD

During the middle ages sadly the ancient Norse beliefs disappeared. And around that time the wealthy Ekeberg estate was established. The Battle of Oslo on 21 April (my birthday) 1240 between King Haakon Haakonsson and Duke Skule Bårdsson changed the history of Norway. The Ekeberg area as seen many wars and battles during the hisoty of time.

In later years The Ekeberg Restaurant was est. in 1916. But the building as we see it today was built from 1927-1929, and is by far one of Norways best examples of functionalism. The architect behind this masterpiece is Lars Backer. The restaurant has the best view in Oslo, amazing food and service.

A new park

Ekebergparken is park that was bought by the city counsil in 1889. It was re-opened September 26. 2013, new paths, lights and of course the artwork was there for anyone to enjoy. The park is large and spacious enough for the artworks not to be visually intrusive, but they are of such high international standard that they justify the trip alone.

Prices: Free

Astrup Fearnley Museum

17/06/2014

The Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art is a privately owned Contemporary Art gallery in Oslo in Norway. It was founded and opened to the public in 1993.

The collection’s main focus is the American appropriation artists from the 1980s, but it is currently developing towards the international contemporary art scene, with artists like Jeff Koons, Richard Prince, Cindy Sherman, Matthew Barney, Tom Sachs, Doug Aitken, Olafur Eliasson and Cai Guo-Qiang. The museum gives 6-7 temporary exhibitions each year. Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art collaborates with international institutions, and produces exhibitions that travels Worldwide.

The museum created a stir in the international art world in 2002 when it purchased the American artist Jeff Koons’s monumental sculpture in gilt porcelain of the pop star Michael Jackson with Bubbles, his favorite chimpanzee, for USD 5.1m.

In 2012 the museum moved to two new buildings by Renzo Piano. The architect Renzo Piano is to design the new museum which will open 29 September 2012, and will consist of two buildings housing the museum’s permanent collection as well as temporary exhibitions.

The exhibitions was by Elmgreen and Dragset, called “Biography“. The second exhibition was “Diaspora” by R. B. Kitaj (1932-2007), and Jens Johannessen (f. 1934) was on the third exhibition.

The Vigeland Park

17/06/2014

The Vigeland Park is the world’s largest sculpture park made by a single artist, and is one of Norway’s most popular tourist attractions. The park is open to visitors all year round.

The unique sculpture park is Gustav Vigeland’s lifework with more than 200 sculptures in bronze, granite and wrought iron. Vigeland was also in charge of the design and architectural layout of the park. The Vigeland Park was mainly completed between 1939 and 1949.

Most of the sculptures are placed in five units along an 850 meter long axis: The Main gate, the Bridge with the Children’s playground, the Fountain, the Monolith plateau and the Wheel of Life.