The leading Neo-Expressionist in the Nordic countries is the Dane Per Kirkeby (born 1938), who is also a prominent figure internationally. Kirkeby qualified as a geologist, and his interest in geology is evident in his paintings and drawings. Yet they are far from sober, scientific studies of earth and rock. Rather they hold the promise of wide spaces while retaining their forms at the surface. Kirkeby does not paint Nature per se, but captures its atmosphere and moods. His early work shows a considerable Pop art influence, being fragmentary and full of allusions; more recently, it has become increasingly abstract. Even so, in a painting such as Hand (1987) he happily adds hand movements among all the non-figurative forms. Plainly, Kirkeby’s approach is not the same as that of the Modernist abstract painters who sought to distil life in art, and for whom the non-figurative—or »concrete«—style was an important means to an end. Kirkeby excludes nothing, but lets the painting evolve through improvisation.
Kristoffer Arvidsson from The Collection Gothenburg Museum of Art, Gothenburg 2014
