ISCA GALLERY

SIDSEL PAASKE
Glimt
25.11 - 22.12.21

ISCA Gallery is proud to present GLIMT, a selection of works on paper and enamel paintings by the late Norwegian artist Sidsel Paaske (1937-1980). This exhibition will mark the first time Paaske’s works have been displayed in Oslo since the National Museum of Norway’s monumental retrospective of her oeuvre back in 2016-17.

Sidsel’s multifaceted practice extended over a variety of media including painting, drawing, sculpture, textile, enamel, illustration, jewelry, poetry, and music. Possessing a restless energy that drove her constant improvisation, she created a large body of work during her short lifetime which remained largely unknown until recent years. Despite being a a central figure in Oslo’s art scene from 1965 to 1980 with a number of solo exhibitions, an active participant in art politics, and a feminist, she was omitted and forgotten from Norwegian art history just a few years after her death. Thanks to the renewed interest in marginalized and under-recognized female and minority artists of the past, and a large posthumous retrospective at the National Museum of Art, Sidsel’s work is finally receiving the recognition and praise it has long deserved.

GLIMT presents a series of drawings created in the last years of her life which explore themes of the body, femininity, and procreation. Using a palette of pink, blue and violet hues, these watercolors are punctuated by reoccurring stamped images of birds in flight, feathers, clouds and eyes. Many of the works feature circular shapes reminiscent of eggs, sperm, embryos and cells; forms that appear to be derived from examination under a microscope. Gestural bursts of color, repetitive patterns, and sweeping lines fill the works with a playful vitality that defined her practice.

Sidsel’s unbound curiosity and continuous exploration of materials are evident in her enamel pieces. Striving to upend the divisions between art and craft, she referred to her abstract expressionist enamel paintings as ‘wall jewelry’. In 1965 she got her own enameling kiln and began to experiment freely at home, using somewhat hazardous materials. The gleaming glazed surface indeed have the captivating allure of jewels, however her primary enthusiasm was the enamel’s play on colors, and how the firing time affected this.  The motifs found in her enamels explore similar themes as her drawings; tensions between incongruent forms, circular patterns, flowing colors and animated forms. 

It is an honor to present this small selection works that highlight Sidsel Paaske’s innovative and wonderfully irreverent approach to art-making that remains so prescient and resonant today.

For availability and prices please send a message to info@isca.no

Photos by Jan Khür and The Estate of Sidsel Paaske