Kjell Erik Killi Olsen exhibition

Den ksaerlige skogen, 2011, oil on canvas

Galleri Erik Steen hosts an exhibition of new works by Kjell Erik Killi Olsen. The exhibition consists of a series of ten new paintings and was entitled "The Second Book" in order to mark a change of direction in his art. Gone are the burlesque figures and the vulnerable characters from the dark side of society; Killi Olsen's work have always appealed to our sense of tolerance and sympathy for the weakest among us. In these new pictures, which are all abstract, he develops this sociopolitical project further, but in a surprising way.

The paintings are composed of layer by layer of detailed patterns, painstakingly produced by means of small, meticulous brushstrokes. The patterns are intense and often produced in bright colour combinations. He has taken the liberty of combining artistic virtuosity with a deliberately "deskilled" presentation. Contemplating the frenzied nature of these paintings makes one think of "outsider art", in other words art created by people outside the world of institutional art. Salient examples of this type of work can be found in Hans Prinzhorn's edition of "Bildnerei der Geisteskranken" from 1920 – a publication that has inspired generations of artists, not least Jean Dubuffet and his development of "art brut". Art such as this, which was unaffected by competitive art circles and academic norms, provided the Avant-garde with completely new impulses. Killi Olsen's paintings have links to this movement and thereby once again draw on the voice of society's outsiders.

This is Kjell Erik Killi Olsen's first exhibition at Galleri Erik Steen and his first solo exhibition in Oslo since 2005. In recent years, his works have been shown at solo exhibitions at Aalesund's Art Association (2009), Trondheim Art Museum (2007), The Art Museum of Northern Norway (2007), The Henie Onstad Art Centre (2005), Rogaland Art Museum (with Michael Kvium, 2004), Galleri Wang (2004), Pinacoteco do Estado, São Paulo (2003) and Esbjerg Art Museum (with Michael Kvium, 2003). Kjell Erik Killi Olsen also exhibited works during the Bergen International Festival in 1995 and represented Norway at the Biennial in São Paulo in 1989. Works by Killi Olsen feature in the collections of The National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design in Oslo, Trondheim Art Museum, Bergen Art Museum, Lillehammer Art Museum, Rogaland Art Museum and Gothenburg Art Museum.

The exhibition ends on October 30th 2011.