Jan Isak Saether: Epiphany

 

 

Jan Isak Saether: Limbo

 

 

EXHIBITED WORKS

Suspended Transition. 20' 7" x 9'
Vesica Piscis. 95" x 66"
Imago. 52" x 37 1/2"
Oracle. 52" x 42 1/2"
Anathema. 10' x 52"
Limbo. 15" x 20 1/2"
Vesica Piscis (later renamed Epiphany)
Jan Valentin Sæther / BONO (c) 2001

JAN ISAK SAETHER

Jan Isak Saether's work bears little resemblance to current fashions in the world of art. At first glance perhaps, it reminds us of the works of the old masters. But as we peer deeper, we sense a curious quality: Saether's work does not bring us the easy, settled feel that we associate with the old, but a disturbing hint of drama, of the unexpected. It is as though one of the old masters had rejoined us in this latter part of the twentieth century, and after studying and absorbing all that the great moderns from Kandinsky to Francis Bacon had to offer, has turned his mind and heart to the stormy times in which we live, and out of that thunderous darkness has generated lightning. Recent currents and fashions in art have brought us visions of what it is to be human that are by turns bleak, comic, deranged, and superficial. In Saether's work, by contrast, we find a portrayal of our humanity that contains both glory and shadow. Saether is no throwback to the past. He is a Velasquez who has learned from Bacon, a true student of both modern and ancient masters who now turns his hand to the great synthesis. It is often said that we can recognize the true artists because they give us new eyes with which to see the world, and create new worlds for us to see. Jan Saether's work faces the future as only a work rooted in the past can, and we are the richer for his courage in bringing his deep dreams into our lives.

Charles Cameron

Charles Cameron is a poet whose calligrammes have been exhibited at London's Institute of Contemporary Art and elsewhere.

 

Limbo
Jan Valentin Sæther / BONO (c) 2001

REPRESENTED BY: NORDIC ART INFO - Brugt. 3 C - N-0186 Oslo - Norway
E-mail: gallery@nordicart.info - Cell phone: (+47) 913 36 283 - Fax: (+47) 22 38 02 88


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All content copyright © 2003 Jan Valentin Saether / BONO All rights reserved
Essay copyright © 2003 Charles Cameron

 

JAN ISAK SAETHER | Paintings
Dassin Gallery, Los Angeles, 1986