Visual Artist
Artist Statement – Susanne Aamund
Summer with Dostoyevsky
Inspired by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, visual artist Susanne Aamund invites you into a very personal universe, a philosophical space where big existential questions are explored.
You enter a world of tableaux with shifting planes and fragmented action frequencies. The works are carefully balanced with delicate and tactile laser-like color tones, contrasted by ornamental geometric objects and scribbles. The images show an imaginative and surreal world of motifs, and the stage is set for an extraordinary experience, the tone is set, but it is up to the viewer to interpret further.
For Susanne Aamund, Dostoyevsky’s novels have become the catalyst for a visual universe with an interplay between conscious and unconscious. The man and the woman – their relationship provides fertile ground for ideas, dreams can grow and unfold, but also an image of the great cycle: life and death and the interconnectedness of everything.
Susanne’s idiom is rich in symbols: “Summer with Dostoevsky III” represents the opposition between good and evil. The black wolf or monster contrasts with the reading person who only possesses eyes, as they are to be used for reading and nothing else is important. The work tells the story of childhood innocence to adulthood’s confrontation with one’s own and others’ shadow sides. Aamund’s works often contain an element of humor or absurdity, which is woven in as a note. The two small creatures that have snuck in and are depicted against the background of a black triangle. The artist likes to use stylistic trees or flowers in relief distributed in appropriate quantities on the canvas.
“Summer with Dostoevsky” celebrates the joy of reading, literature and the opportunity to be completely absorbed and soak up wisdom. The artist has painted herself into the work in a stylized form, creating a dense atmosphere of contemplation that encompasses the whole world.
Susanne Aamund marks her 80th birthday with this exhibition “Summer with Dostoevsky” She grew up in the Middle East, a somewhat isolated existence where the sketchbook became the companion of the heat. This is how the tradition of drawing and expressing herself visually was formed. Aamund made her debut in 1984 and has continuously held exhibitions at home and abroad. Her imaginative and fantastical works have a strong appeal to private collectors.
Susanne Aamund has made a name for herself in exhibition contexts for decades. She has received grants from the New Carlsberg Foundation, the Becket Foundation and the Generalinde Kofod Grant. She has been in residency at the Danish Institute in Damascus 3 times. Truly a distinctive and interesting artist with a huge narrative gene.
Annegrethe Davis
CV
2023 Solo exhibition, ”Summer with Dostojevskij” Davis Gallery
2022 Svenske Villa, Bernstorff Slot
2020 Recycling Stories, Galleri Bredgade 22
2019 Monkey Business, Galleri Bredgade 22
2018 Grenen Kunstmuseum, Skagen
2016 Solo Exhibition, Alter Ego, Bredgade Kunsthandel
2015 Bispegården, Kalundborg
2014 Group Exhibition, Dronninglund Arts Centre
2013 Solo exhibition ” Spind ” Bredgade Kunsthandel
2012 Embelishment, Sundhedsstyrelsen
2011 “Amorisms” Galerie Provence.
2011 Solo exhibition “Inside – Out ” Bredgade Kunsthandel
2010 Solo exhibition “Vrøvl”, Øksnehallen
2008 Solo exhibition, Galerie Provence
2007 Galleri NB , Viborg, “Heartbeat”
2006 Art Club, London, Solo Exhibition
2006 The Danish Institute, Damascus, “Roses From Damascus”, solo exhibition
2006 Galleri Provence, “Roses From Damascus ” Solo exhibition
2005 Resided at The Danish Institute, Damascus, scholarship from The New Carlsberg Foundation
2005 Galleri NB Roskilde Gasværk, “Another Place ”
2004 Resided at The Danish Institute, Damascus, scholarship from The New Carlsberg Foundation
2004 Art Fair Herning
2003 Galleri C, Aarhus, “Bosporus- Fragments From My Childhood “, solo exhibition
2003 Art Fair Herning
2002 Galleri Provence, “Copulating Crocodiles “, solo exhibition
2002 Art Fair Herning
2001 Galleri Susanne Højriis, American and Danish Contemporary Art,
group exhibition
2001 Galleri Susanne Højriis, “Transit Love”, solo exhibition
2000 Galleri Gl. Lejre, ” Land Of Myths”, theme exhibition with Bent Holstein and Hans Tyrrestrup.
Galerie Anne Marie, “The Writing on the wall “, solo exhibition
Art Fair Herning
Embellishment, Fisketorvet Copenhagen
Sold to Generalinde Koefoeds Legat
Sold to Fyns Kunstfond
1999 Published “North”, with support from Carlsberg and Beckett Foundations
Galleri Provence, Aalborg, solo exhibition
1998 Art Fair Herning
1997 Galerie Anne Marie, “Erotic Exhibition”, group exhibition
Øksnehallen, “Kun med hjertet kan man se”, solo exhibition
Galleri Provence, Aalborg, solo exhibition
Galleri C, Århus, solo exhibition
Galleri Gl. Lejre, solo exhibition
Embellishment Aalborg Storcenter
1996 Galerie Anne Marie, “Søgen efter Peter Plys”, solo exhibition
Art City 96, Globe Projekt
1995 Lowe Gallery, Atlanta , USA
1994 Galerie Anne Marie, solo exhibition
1990 Husets Galleri, solo exhibition
1989 Galleri Gl. Lejre, solo exhibition
1984-1991 Annual exhibitions at Det Norske Veritas Hus, Nyhavn
Background
Born1943, grew up in the Middle East
1961 Art School, Copenhagen
1966 Scenography at Aalborg Theater, assistant for Preben Hornung
1973 Textile design in Hong Kong
1980 Graphic Group, Havartigården
