Hakon Gullvag

Artist biography

Hakon Gullvag ( b. 1959) was born and raised in Trondheim , Norway . He comes from a family with interests in music, literature and journalism, and he himself, as a child, showed unusual abilities for drawing and painting. His artist career started at 12, when he discovered his grandfather had been an ardent hobby painter and had died before Hakon was born, but even after so many years, it was still possible to squeeze paint from the old tubes. A year later Hakon began attending the painting school of roar Matheson bye ( 1895 – 1988 ) .At 17 he enrolled at the art school of Trondheim ( renamed Trondheim art academy in 1977). Here the Swedish painter and art – pedagogue Georg Suttner exercised great influence. Through him, Gullvag learned a great deal about Swedish art, and this knowledge was augmented by several intervals of study in Stockholm . Gullvag also sought to expand his horizons beyond the borders of Scandinavia, studying first in London ( 1983-84) and then in Paris ( 1986-86).

Gullvag’s artistic practice has mostly been dedicated to painting. He has a wide range of styles and themes. A longstanding characteristic, however, is that his art is founded on a well-developed talent for drawing and a solid, classic training. Many of the themes he was occupied with early in his career are still being addressed today. The works frequently hold references to childhood, the masters of art history and artistic genres, film, literature, and current events. When woven together, these references establish different levels of reality, each permeated with symbols – which contributes to the work’s mystery and ambiguity.