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Hardy
Brix draws his immense landscapes from more remote regions. He
goes to geographic extremes, and records his impressions from
the end of the world, where high skies meet sea and land,
without minor disturbances such as humans and their interference
with nature. Here we see unspoilt scenery where man is but a
speck of dust that easily disappears with a puff of air. Here,
on the edge of the world things are put in the right perspective,
and nature has its monumental way. The canvas is a memory image,
painted in peaceful Denmark, but crystallized by impressions
from previous study tours to Svalbard, Greenland and Antarctica.
The Arctic landscape is shaped by a choice of cool colours
applied in thin layers with a spatula. Because Hardy Brix works
with such fluid oils he has had more than once - to put the
canvas into a horizontal position, on the floor, to be able to
control the colours. It requires patient work, the depth of the
picture being achieved not by means of a linear perspective, but
by means of many thin layers of colour glazes.
Although the picture is developed on the basis of the colour
scheme of previous works, Hardy Brix works without sketches, but
in constant dialogue with the picture itself-where does it want
to go? It is a slow process that may demand serious intervention
even when the picture finally seems to be taking shape. But it
may be necessary to preserve the energy of the picture.
Birgit Hessellund, May 2003
Oli on canvas. 65x60 cm.
Hardy Brix writes about himself
My
extensive travels to the most remote, most deserted, coldest
regions of our planet have left deep imprints on my paintings.
Greenland, Svalbard and Antarctica are frequent titles of my
paintings in recent years, not so much as topographical sites,
but more as a recollection. This painting I have called "Arctic
Landscape, the quintessence of impressions from my travels. A
polar landscape of gigantic proportions where common sense and
everyday concepts lose all meaning and man is reminded of his
inadequacy. The weather is unpredictable in these parts, ranging
from freezing cold to snow and sleet, to all-consuming light,
whiter than white, where green is not green and blue is not
blue-but light.
My method is simple; I work without sketches or other aids, and
put on the initial thin layers of paint with a spatula, a bit
carelessly-a couple of colour clashes in the middle of many
haphazard shots. It has all been set in motion and will
gradually become integrated in the painting. I meet gradually
more resistance in the painting process, and, as I reach a point
of despair, I look at my palette thinking that somewhere in it
is the colour that means redemption. The transitions between the
elements of nature-the sky, the mountains, the glaciers, the sea,
the ice -are all treated as recollections of feelings, of
weather, solitude, despair and isolation, all coming together as
the painterly code on the surface of the painting.
Hardy Brix
Oli on canvas. 65x60 cm.
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